US sees growing acceptance of EVs, despite challenges

Concerns over the safety of some electric vehicles are being expressed in the US, although sales are increasing in certain areas of the country both for EVs and hybrid types. Two crash tests carried out recently on GM’s Chevrolet Volt model caused its battery to spark or catch fire. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conducted the tests because of an incident this spring in which a Volt battery damaged in a crash test caught fire three weeks later, igniting the car that contained it and three other vehicles in a NHTSA facility. US auto-safety officials have opened an investigation into GM's Chevrolet Volt and will evaluate the issues in due course.

Sales of EVs and hybrid vehicles are growing in the US though, with some parts of the country showing particular acceptance. A newly published interactive map produced by NPR details where electric and hybrid cars have proved most popular, and unsurprisingly the San Francisco Bay area tops electric and hybrid car sales lists for the year. Some 8.4% of all vehicles sold in the San Francisco Bay area during the year were either hybrids or electric cars, some 26,718 new vehicles in all.

Also in California, Monterey and Salinas recorded 6.9% of all cars being sold in the area being EVs or hybrid vehicles. The tough emission regulations in California help boost sales of EVs as well as hybrids. However, the data shows that the entire Pacific coastal region is a strong market for these vehicles.

The eastern sea board is also well represented when it comes to hybrid and electric car sales, although not as strongly as the west coast. In the mid-west hybrid and electric cars are proving reasonably popular in certain areas. Some 2-4% of car buyers in cities like Chicago, Minneapolis and Kansas City are now choosing a hybrid or electric car.