Electric Cars Popular With Hawaii Residents

Hawaii residents are turning out to be fans of electric cars.

Although Hawaii ranked 41^st in the country for overall new car registrations – in keeping with its rank of 40^th in terms of population — the state ranks 10^th in the country for sales of electric vehicles so far this year.

That translates into nearly 3% of all electric car sales nationwide occurring in Hawaii, according to Edmunds.com, an automotive information website.

Hawaii also buys a slightly higher percentage of hybrid vehicles, where it is ranked 33^rd.

Edmunds.com said the trend nationally is toward increased sales of alternative fuel vehicles which made up 3.4% of new car registrations this year, up a full percentage point from 2011.

“As more alt-fuel vehicles come to the market and as prices for these cars become more affordable, we expect a higher percentage of shoppers will at least consider an alternative fuel vehicle the next time they’re buying a new car,” said Edmunds.com senior analyst Jessica Caldwell.

The website projects Edmunds.com projects at least 43 all-new conventional hybrids, plug-in hybrids, battery-electric vehicles, diesels and fuelcell electric vehicles are planned for introduction in the U.S. from now through the 2015 model year.