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Total Electric Car Sales Exceed 200,000 in California

California Plug-in Electric Vehicle Collaborative (PEVC) data revealed that in April, cumulative sales (since 2011) of cars with a plug have reached 202,744, of which 6,296 units were added in the month. Nation-wide, April sales are 12,109 units and total sales since 2011 have become 440,924 units.

Based on data from EV Obsession, Models exceeding 1,000 sales in April in the US include: Tesla Model S all-electric (2,000 units); Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid (1,865 units), Nissan LEAF all-electric (1,246 units), Ford Fusion Energy plug-in hybrid (1,238 units) and Tesla Model X all-electric (1,200 units).

Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid Joins 100,000-sales Club for Electric Cars

According to Hybrid Cars, Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid has sold 101,900 units through March this year. Nissan LEAF, Tesla Model S and Chevrolet Volt (including Opel/Vauxhall Ampera and Holden Volt) have achieved the same milestone already – 218,000, 120,000 and 110,000 respectively.

The car has a 12-kWh battery pack and can run 32.5 miles on electric. US sales will start later this year.

Tesla Motors Releases Q1/2016 Shareholder Letter

The update released on May 4^th indicated that the company plans to expand to 500,000 units per year in 2018, two years ahead of the previous schedule. Q1 non-GAAP net loss was $0.57 per share and Q1 GAAP net loss was $2.13 per share.

The new production expansion goal is doubted by Wall Street. AutoNation Chairman and CEO Mike Jackson calls it “mission impossible”.

Moreover, Reuters reported that Greg Reichow – Tesla’s vice president of production, and Josh Ensign – Tesla’s vice president of manufacturing, have left Tesla.

Fuel Cell Vehicles Forecast to See Annual Production of over 70,000 Units by 2027

IHS Automotive released the report forecasting over 70,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles produced annually by 2027. Between now and then, 17 models powered by a fuel cell will be made available. OEMs in Japan and Korea are the major players in the market for now. European carmakers will take the lead by 2021. 70,000 will represent lower than 0.1% of total car sales by then.

Earlier, The Asahi Shimbun reported that Toyota is working on a mass-production version of its Mirai fuel cell car with less cost, around $50,000-$55,000 before government incentives. The company targets 2019 to start delivery.

Adoption of Electric Cars Decreases the Demand for Platinum

Bloomberg analyzed that as the car industry is switching to the electric, world demand for platinum will decline significantly. In 2015, about 42% of the metal went into cars, mainly as a catalyst to control emissions. Electric cars are eliminating tailpipes, thus the need for platinum.

Interestingly, platinum may see a new opportunity with fuel cell vehicles. In current fuel cell technologies, platinum is a key component to use hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity.