Connecticut will have 17,200 plug-in electric cars by 2017, representing 2.1 percent of all motor vehicles, according to Colorado clean energy forecaster Pike Research.
Pike predicted the sales of plug-in electric vehicles for all 50 states through 2017, showing that California, New York and Massachusetts will have the highest percentage of plug-in electric vehicles among those states’ total vehicles.
The national average in 2017 will be 2.4 plug-in electric vehicles out of every 100 cars. In Connecticut, that number will be lower at 2.1 plug-ins per 100 vehicles because of the state’s smaller population, few heavy population centers, and the smaller percentage of hybrid cars – such as the Toyota Pruis – in the state, said Dave Hurst, Pike senior analyst.
Automakers will concentrate on the sales of electric vehicles in high population centers, and Pike predicts that the Greater Hartford area will be home to 13,585 plug-in electric vehicles by 2017.
“Most of the plug-in vehicles in Connecticut will be in that area,” Hurst said.
General Motors choose Connecticut as one of its initial markets for the Chevrolet Volt plug-in vehicle, and that electric car went on sale late last year. GM chose Connecticut, in part, because of former Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s commitment to building infrastructure for electric vehicles, such as charging stations.
The automakers of other high-profile electric vehicles, such as the Nissan Leaf, have not yet chosen Connecticut for the initial markets for their cars.
