US Electric Drive Sales Jump in February

Things seem to be on track for those who have envisioned a bright future for the vehicles that use electricity in one degree or another to run. According to the data submitted by the big players on the market, people seem to take more and more interest in this new type of vehicles.

The sales of vehicles that use electric motors, partially or totally, to operate, have grown 43 percent in February 2011, compared to the same month of last year. The rise can in no way be attributed to the two electric vehicles currently on the market, the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf, but to the existing hybrids.

According to Auto Observer, there were 23,678 electric-drive vehicles sold in the US last month, compared to only 16,530 sold last year, in the sale month. Of them, most were Toyota badged cars, an understandable fact, given the auto maker's wide offer in this segment.

The Prius accounted for 57 percent of all the electric-drive vehicles sold in the US. The quintessential hybrid was followed by the Toyota Highlander Hybrid, the Honda CR-Z sport-coupe hybrid (1,091 units) and the Honda Civic Hybrid. Not at all surprising, the biggest gains in the segment were achieved thanks to the products of the two Japanese auto makers.

For the future, given the clear advantages offered by these types of vehicles and the increasing prices for fuel, it's likely we'll see more rises in the sales of electric-drive cars. The arrival of more and more models which use electricity as propulsion, from most of the auto maker's on the market, will further boost sales of this type of vehicles.