BY THE EDITORIAL PAGE STAFF OF THE FREE LANCE-STAR
THANKS IN part to steep discounts, billions of dollars in manufacturers rebates, generous federal and state tax credits, and even special utility rates in some cases, ânearly 5.4 million hybrid electric vehicles and just over 1.4 million plug-in electric cars have sold in the United Statesâ as of October 2020, according to USAFacts. All-electric cars accounted for about 60 percent of those sales and plug-in hybrids the remaining 40 percent.
That sounds like a lot. But itâs just a fraction of the sales of vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE). âPlug-in electric cars accounted for just under 1 percent of all 146 million new light-duty vehicles sales between 2011 and 2019,â according to USAFacts.