U.S. Hybrid Electric Car Sales Hit Record Highs

Pure electric cars are making all the headlines, but their gasoline-electric hybrid rivals quietly achieved record sales in the United States last year, industry data showed.

While the likes of Tesla Inc. and Ford Motor Co. pushed for electric vehicle sales, Asian automakers boosted hybrid vehicle line-ups, as many customers still shun EVs due to higher prices, limited driving range or lack of charging stations.

U.S. sales of hybrid vehicle sales jumped 76% to 801,550 vehicles last year, accounting for 5% of U.S. light vehicle sales, according to data from analytics firm Wards Intelligence.

Sales of EVs also jumped 83% to 434,879, but represented a meager 3% of the market.

Toyota Motor Corp posted record hybrid car sales for the U.S. market, helping the Japanese automaker overtake General Motors Co. as the top-selling U.S. automaker. 

Toyota boosted sales of its hybrids, plug-ins and fuel cells by 73% to 583,697, with most of them coming from hybrid. GM sold fewer than 25,000 electric vehicles, as it recalled Bolt EVs due to battery fire risks.

Check out the full article from Reuters here.