Electric vehicle sales have now surpassed 500,000 total cars in the US

As of last month, the U.S. is officially half way to the Department of Energy’s goal to have 1 million electric vehicles on U.S. roads. That goal was first set for 2015, but we are now obviously nowhere near the level and a year late.

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz set 2020 as the new goal for the 1 million mark and with the recent sales numbers, it looks like it shouldn’t be a problem.

Of course, we are not talking only about all-electric vehicles here. We are talking about plug-in cars, BEVs and PHEVs.

If we start from 2010, when GM introduced the Volt and Nissan introduced the LEAF in the US, we get to now 512,137 electric vehicles in the US as of last month.

The month of September was a big help with record-breaking sales of 16,069 EVs – up from the previous record of 14,973 set just the month before.

Here’s a chart of EVs sales in the US since 2010 using data from Electric Cars Report:

Considering the US had its two best month for EV sales back to back and that several new models are planned for market introduction in the next few years, it looks like the 1 million mark by 2020 will be easily achievable.

Vehicles like the Chevy Bolt EV and the Tesla Model 3 should greatly accelerate electric vehicle sales in the US over the next two years.

As for current market leaders, the Tesla Model S is still leading sales in the US, but the Chevy Volt is now significantly contributing to those numbers and not too far behind thanks to the new 2017 model. The Ford Fusion Energi is still a stable contributor to total EV sales with already over 11,000 units delivered in the US this year.

As for the Nissan LEAF, we previously reported sales are lagging in the US since the beginning of the year as the vehicle is in dire need of a refresh. Something we expect to see by the end of the year or early next year.