Are battery-powered cars losing their charge?

Sales of plug-in hybrids tumbled to nearly half their level from September and October.

The optimist would be likely to note that sales of the Chevrolet Volt were up 30 percent in November, at least when compared with year-ago numbers. But pessimists, of which there are many, would be more likely to point out that sales of the plug-in hybrid tumbled to nearly half their level from September and October.

The Volt was toppled from its throne as the nation's top-selling electric car by both the Nissan Leaf and Toyota Prius Plug-In. But even those vehicles slipped a bit during what was otherwise the best month the US auto industry has had, overall, since March of 2008.

There's no question that demand for battery-based vehicles has increased this year, but here again it's a case of half-empty or half-full. Most products have fallen well short of expectations. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has already acknowledged Leaf will miss its 2012 target and Volt will be lucky to get halfway to its original US goal of 45,000. For its part, Mitsubishi had hoped to nail down 20,000 units of its tiny i electric car this year, but it has only sold in the hundreds, not thousands.

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Paul A. Eisenstein is Publisher of TheDetroitBureau.com and a 30-year veteran of the automotive beat. His editorials bring his unique perspective and deep understanding of the auto world to Autoblog readers on a regular basis.

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Are battery-powered cars losing their charge?

Sales of plug-in hybrids tumbled to nearly half their level from September and October.

The optimist would be likely to note that sales of the Chevrolet Volt were up 30 percent in November, at least when compared with year-ago numbers. But pessimists, of which there are many, would be more likely to point out that sales of the plug-in hybrid tumbled to nearly half their level from September and October.

The Volt was toppled from its throne as the nation's top-selling electric car by both the Nissan Leaf and Toyota Prius Plug-In. But even those vehicles slipped a bit during what was otherwise the best month the US auto industry has had, overall, since March of 2008.

There's no question that demand for battery-based vehicles has increased this year, but here again it's a case of half-empty or half-full. Most products have fallen well short of expectations. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has already acknowledged Leaf will miss its 2012 target and Volt will be lucky to get halfway to its original US goal of 45,000. For its part, Mitsubishi had hoped to nail down 20,000 units of its tiny i electric car this year, but it has only sold in the hundreds, not thousands.

---

Paul A. Eisenstein is Publisher of TheDetroitBureau.com and a 30-year veteran of the automotive beat. His editorials bring his unique perspective and deep understanding of the auto world to Autoblog readers on a regular basis.

---

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GM profits threatened by glut of pickups

Automotive News reports that General Motors may slash production or ramp up discounts in order to deal with an oversupply of pickup trucks. GM currently has more than double the standard supply of pickups, and the vehicles are threatening to dampen the automaker's profits for 2013. Typically, automakers try to sustain a 60- to 75-day supply of vehicles, but GM is currently loaded with a 139-day supply, as of last month. At the end of November, the automaker was sitting on 245,853 units.

The manufacturer says that it will adjust production accordingly before laying any incentives on the profitable pickups. Even so, there's some concern that the inventory swell could hurt the roll-out of the next-generation Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. GM actually began slowly stepping back production in August, but it's clear the company will take further action as it heads toward the end of the year and into the next. Analysts predict the automaker could reduce pickup manufacturing by nearly half in the first quarter of 2013.

That still may not be enough to keep GM from laying extra cash on the Silverado and GMC Sierra. While the company's incentive spending was down in November compared to the same month in 2011, both the Ram 1500 and Ford F-150 saw double-digit percentage increases in sales last month while the Silverado and Sierra numbers slid compared to a year prior. Incentive spending could help move more trucks and add some balance to the GM inventory surge.
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Jeep Grand Cherokee headed for Detroit reveal on diesel power

Time to quit your bellyaching and pony up your pennies, Jeep fans. Chrysler has announced the Jeep Grand Cherokee will bow with a 3.0-liter V6 turbodiesel engine in the first quarter of next year. The engine yields 237 horsepower and an impressive 406 pound-feet of torque, and all that twist shows up from 1,800 rpm on. If you're counting, that's 16 lb-ft more than the 5.7-liter V8. Expect to see it bolted to a six-speed automatic transmission. As you may recall, this isn't the first time we've heard this news.

Jeep CEO Mike Manley let the news slip while speaking with Ward's Auto at the LA Auto Show, and said if buyer feedback is any indication, the new model should see healthy sales. Manley also pointed to the now deceased Liberty diesel, which the executive said that enjoyed a faithful, if small following. Odds are we'll hear more about pricing and fuel economy when the diesel Grand Cherokee gets an official unveil at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show.
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Musk reports positive cash flow for Tesla last week

According to Bloomberg, Tesla actually earned money last week. CEO Elon Musk sent out a message on Twitter saying his company was "narrowly cash positive." That's big news for a company that hasn't turned a quarterly profit as of yet. Tesla is currently in the middle of stepping up production for its Model S sedan, and has announced the vehicle's MSRP will jump by $2,500, presumably to help fund that expansion.

So far, Tesla says it has built around 20,000 Model S units at its California production facility, though analysts say the ability to repeatedly generate a positive cash flow would go a long way toward the company's evolution into a "sustainable operating entry." So far, the Model S has garnered substantive praise, earning the Motor Trend Car of the Year Award among others. Tesla shares are up 19 percent this year over the same time period in 2011.
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Translogic tackles the weight-sensing ZBoard electric skateboard

There is nothing new about an electric skateboard (you can pick one up today at Sears or Toys 'R' Us), but the founders of ZBoard have come up with an innovative way to make electric mobility safe and easy. The ZBoard uses intuitively placed weight-sensing pads to control acceleration and braking, and Translogic recently had the chance to check one out.

Weighing in at 30 pounds, the ZBoard is powered by a 400-watt motor and a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery giving the board a 10-mile range and top speed of 17 miles per hour. The unique sensors on the Canadian maple deck allow riders to lean forward to accelerate and lean back to slow down, stop and even back up. Early prototypes used electric brakes to bring it to a stop, but after it was discovered that this caused damage to some electrical components, the design was changed to incorporate regenerative braking for better stopping and longer range.

Created by Ben Forman and Geoff Larson as a part of a mechanical engineering project, the two men expected to sell 25 boards in three months, but instead they sold that many in just three days. There are two versions of the ZBoard with the Classic going for $649 and the Pro (the model tested by Translogic) priced at $949.

While we're still holding out for the day when hoverboards become a reality, the ZBoard definitely sounds like a lot of fun. Check out how it works in the video below.
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Dodge Dart misses sales targets as inventory mounts

November was a rough month for the Dodge Dart. All told, Chrysler managed to deliver 4,489 units, down from 5,455 in October, but perhaps more telling is the sizable inventory Dodge now has on hand. Chrysler added a third shift to the Belvidere, Illinois plant that produces the new compact in order to satiate projected demand, and as a result, Dodge now has a 112-day supply of Dart models. That equates to 23,446 units waiting for a new home. Automakers typically average a supply of around 73 days. But the news wasn't so grim for the rest of the Chrysler stable.

Ward's Auto reports the Chrysler 200 saw particularly good sales through November, with the four-door seeing a 49.6 percent increase through the first 11 months of 2012 compared to the same time period on 2011. Likewise, the genetic sibling to the 200, the Dodge Avenger, saw sales jump 54.8 percent year over year through the same 11 months.
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