Why aren’t electric cars selling?

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – One day after the provincial government announced new incentives to get you to go green, there is more research showing electric cars aren’t taking off as hoped.

You could say “Electric Avenue” is looking pretty deserted, even after high profile launches by Nissan and Chevy in the past year.

“The sales numbers, when you look at October… this year, we’re actually down compared to last year.  One would expect you would see the numbers starting to grow,” explains Chris Sorenson, a senior writer with Maclean’s Magazine.

Besides the expense, the problems that continue to dog electrics are the time it takes to charge them and a limited driving range. Sorenson also points out the price at the pumps still isn’t enough to get drivers to make the switch to electric.

“As long as gasoline prices are sort of relatively affordable, people are content with buying regular gasoline-powered cars. A lot of the cars are very fuel-efficient, the most-fuel efficient they’ve ever been,” he notes.

You can read more in this week’s edition of Maclean’s. The article is called “Stuck in the First Gear.”