Although there are not many electric vehicles on the road today, in a few years the availability and diversity of plug-in cars may be greater than any of us know what to do with. Almost every automaker including the big and small plan to have an all-electric vehicle out by 2012; Toyota plans to have three. There are many start-up companies that are placing their futures on the line with the emergence of the electric car market. Companies like Wheego and Fisker are staring their entrance into the car market with electric-cars.
Despite all of the possible offerings of electric cars, fewer than 7% of Americans say they would consider buying a plug-in vehicle. Of the few that would buy even fewer are willing to risk it on an unknown company. The dooming statistics don’t scare the big automakers because their futures do not rely solely on sales of plug-in vehicles; but for some of the smaller companies it’s electric cars or bust.
The smaller companies plan to compete with the bigger guys in customer service and specialization. Wheego’s CEO says “if you email me as CEO, you’re going to get a response back.” Also, the smaller guys don’t need to sell as many cars to stay afloat. Fisker Automotive plans to sell luxury plug-in sedan that will not be direct competition for cars like the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf.
By 2012 we may be seeing as many as 14 different electric plug-in vehicles for sale. Experts believe the market will be similar to the hybrid market, with one model taking half the sales and the others competing for the rest.
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