Chevy Volt
The J.D. Power report, titled “Drive Green 2020: More Hope than Reality” explores factors that affect the future of so called “green” vehicles in the largest automotive markets worldwide. Among the factors holding down sales: regulatory environment, market trends, consumer sentiment and technology development.
According to the report, the future worldwide demand for electric vehicles may be significantly over-hyped. Their findings include a, combined global sale of hybrid-electric and battery-electric vehicles will total 5.2 million units in 2020. This represents a slim 7.3 percent of the 70.9 million passenger vehicles forecasted by 2020.
With Electric-hybrid cars like the Chevy Volt costing over $40,280 before government incentives, the industry is expected to idle along until the cost of technology drops to competitive levels. In 2010, global HEV and BEV sales are expected to reach 954,500 vehicles, which represents 2.2 percent of the 44.7 million vehicles sold. Price is cited as the biggest factor among people considering electric or advanced hybrid vehicles, which are typically priced much higher than gas or diesel powered vehicles.
