U.S. electric car market full of spark

07-08-2012 • http://www.rawstory.com, By Agence France-Presse

The US market for all-electric cars is charging up, with plug-in vehicles rolling off US dealer lots despite much higher costs, battery fire scares and falling gasoline prices.

Plug-in cars racked up strong sales in the first six months of the year, automakers said, even with their tall sticker prices and lifetime operating costs up to $6,000 more than conventional gasoline-run vehicles.

General Motors reported it sold more of its $39,000 Chevrolet Volts in the first six months than it did in all of last year, with 1,760 of the cars delivered to buyers in June.

Toyota said it has sold over 4,300 of its all-electric version of the popular Prius hybrid since it launched the model in March — even though the plug-in Prius costs, at the $32,000 base price, a third more than the cheapest hybrid Prius.