Cumulative sales of plug-in electric vehicles will reach 5.2 million units by 2017; up from just under 114,000 vehicles in 2011, according to a new report from Pike Research.
By the same year, cumulative sales of hybrid electric vehicles will represent an additional 8.7 million vehicles, for a combined total of 13.9 million units in all electrified vehicle categories.
Pike Research projects that, while electrified vehicles will become a growing portion of total vehicle sales, the penetration rates will remain relatively low in the context of the total automotive industry.
The firm forecasts that plug-in electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles sales together will represent approximately 3% of total light-duty vehicle sales in 2017.
Adoption will be highest in North America, where electrified vehicles will capture 4.9% of the total light-duty vehicle market in that year.
Production of electrified vehicles is gearing up all over the world, and automakers are planning to launch an increasing variety of new models over the next few years. Hybrid electric vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles, the category that includes both plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles, will all share the market stage as electrified vehicles continue to capture a larger portion of the total vehicle market.
[source: Pike Research]
