Plug-In Cars Experience Best-Ever U.S. Sales Numbers In September

Last month, plug-in electric vehicles experienced some of their best sales figures ever in the United States. The majority of the sales were represented by battery electric vehicles, which sold just under 0.7 percent in a competitive passenger car and light truck market that saw 1.43 million sales. Combined with plug- in hybrids, a total of 16,609 were sold in September.

A total of 10,032 battery electric cars that were sold in last month, and a good number of those sales were credited to Tesla. The brand's Model S and Model X models made up around 41,000 and 26,000 respectively of total EV sales.

EV sales also edged out the lower-emission diesel market, which has taken a bit of a hit since Volkswagen's "Dieselgate" emissions cheating scandal. The diesel market sold 11,737 units last month, which equates to a .82 percent share of the market. But now that VW is sidelined in the U.S., these sales were mostly carried by light-duty trucks.

Traditional, non-plug-in hybrid sales were also on the rise in September. They accounted for 2.19 percent of the market and 31,286 individual sales.

So, if September is any indication, the future of plug-in EVs and hybrids in the United States might not be that bleak, despite lower prices at the pump. The U.S. is on track to have a banner year when it comes to sales of such vehicles. Through September, 109, 513 plug-in vehicles were sold to date. By comparison, 114, 428 plug-ins were sold during the entire 12 month period of 2015.

Since 2008, U.S. drivers have purchased an estimated 522,519 plug-in passenger vehicles.