No doubt about it, 2017 was a banner year for electric vehicles. We have not yet hit the “turning point” that everyone talks about, when the vehicles will explode into the market, but we think we can see it from here.
Here’s our take on the top EV milestones for 2017:
10. Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority committed to turning its fleet of over 2,000 buses all-electric by 2030, making it by far the largest electric bus fleet in the world* United States. (*China boasts the largest, with more than 12,000 electric buses in service in the city of Shenzhen.)
9. National Drive Electric Week celebrated EVents from coast to coast, in all 50 states for the first time, covering every major metropolitan area (276 events in all).
8. The first moderately-priced electric car with a 200+ mile range, the Chevy Bolt, became available in all 50 states and was recognized by Motor Trend as the Car of the Year.
7. The first plug-in hybrid minivan, the Chrysler Pacifica, went on sale.
6. China established a requirement that all automakers must sell 10% plug-in cars by 2019—e.g. next model year!
5. The United States passed 700,000 plug-in vehicles sold and the world surpassed 2 million.
4. 35 different models of plug-in cars became available for sale in the United States. (You can find them all on our vehicle tracker.)
3. The Tesla Model 3 was launched to great fanfare, with a backlog of 450,000 orders and a declaration from Motor Trend that it is “the Car of the Century.”
2. General Motors declared that “the future is all-electric” and committed to rolling out 18 pure electric cars by 2023.
