Plug-in Vehicle Sales Climb as Battery Costs Decline

In 2009, the cost for lithium-ion plug-in vehicle batteries was about $1,000 per kilowatt-hour (kW-hr) and plug-in vehicle sales were negligible. The first mass-marketed plug-in vehicles were introduced just prior to 2011, when the cost of batteries was nearing $600 per kW-hr. Since that time, battery costs have continued to fall and more plug-in vehicles have entered the market. From 2009 to 2014 the cost of batteries dropped by 71% while cumulative sales of plug-in vehicles rose to nearly 300,000 vehicles during that time.