Tesla is doing fine but CEO has complaints..How are cars using electricity doing generally?

I thought by now we would be hearing a lot more about the Volt and other cars like that...

What is with the whole status of electric and hybrid cars these days? Let me see if there is something really current on the net --

First, of course, Tesla had done fine this year, but its CEO Elon Musk is very critical of the way dealers sell cars


(Reuters) - Elon Musk, the chief executive of electric carmaker Tesla Motors Inc, criticized the traditional way of selling cars in the United States and indicated the model would hamper the 10-year-old U.S. automaker's growth prospects.
Tesla is pushing to sell its Model S electric sedan directly to consumers rather than relying on a network of independent dealers. These efforts have met stiff resistance from dealer groups around the country.
"The auto dealers association is definitely creating some problems for us, making it harder to get things done," Musk said during Tesla's annual meeting on Tuesday.
The annual meeting comes after a string of positive news in the last month for Tesla, including its first-ever quarterly profit and a near-perfect score for the Model S from the influential Consumer Reports magazine.
As a result, Tesla shares have nearly tripled this year. On Tuesday, Musk said the company's gross margins could approach those of sports-car maker Porsche AG "over time."
Tesla is now beefing up its sales operations in anticipation of growing Model S sales. The company expects to have 50 stores by the end of the year, up from 34 during the first quarter.
Musk has said that traditional dealers may not be the best advocate for electric cars because they rely largely on gas-powered vehicles for revenue. Musk said Tuesday that consumers were broadly supportive of direct-to-consumer sales.
He told shareholders that the traditional dealer model has not worked for other auto start-ups, including Fisker Automotive and Coda Holdings, which filed for bankruptcy last month.
"It didn't work for Fisker, didn't work for Coda. In the last 90 years, when did it work?" Musk said at the meeting in Mountain View, California that was also broadcast online. "We have to do this directly."
David Hyatt, vice president of public affairs for the National Automobile Dealers Association, disputed Musk's comments, saying the troubles facing Fisker and Coda did not stem from their sales models.
"Industry experts say Fisker failed because it rushed its product to market before engineering problems were resolved," Hyatt said in a statement. "Coda did not receive government loans and was under-capitalized.
"Thank goodness there are independent dealers left to try to help the customer," he added. "Manufacturers and brands may come and go, but the dealers are there for the long term."
Most U.S. states do not allow manufacturers to sell new cars directly to consumers. A pair of bills that would have allowed such sales in Texas failed to make it to a floor vote in the state legislature before its regular session ended on May 27.
"Honestly, it was a hard bill to pass anyway and I knew that when I filed it," said Democratic Representative Eddie Rodriguez, who proposed the bill in the House. A companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Republican Senator Craig Estes.
"It was very different than what the current system is. I knew it was going to be a challenge," Rodriguez said, adding "the dealers are a pretty strong lobby group."
(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Carol Bishopric, Dan Grebler and Matt Driskill)


Also, this site called the Green Auto Blog has this to say:

Were American's going through hybrid withdrawal? That's a question worth asking after US advanced-powertrain sales jumped in May following a few months of relatively tepid demand.

Plug-in vehicle sales rose even faster, at a 69 percent clip, to 5,694 vehicles (not including the Tesla Model S, which we can only guess at).

Last month's US sales of hybrids, battery-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and diesels jumped 30 percent from May 2012 numbers to more than 60,000, perhaps because Americans are gearing up for higher summer gas prices by buying more fuel efficient cars. Plug-in vehicle sales rose even faster, at a 69 percent clip, to 5,694 vehicles, and that's not including the Tesla Model S, which sold about 1,600 units a month during the first quarter but since Tesla doesn't release monthly figures, we can only guess what it sold in May.

Hybrid leader Toyota appeared to regain its footing as year-over-year Prius sales rose 9.5 percent to almost 23,522 vehicles on increased demand for the standard hatchback, C and V variants. While Camry Hybrid sales fell 3.1 percent, the newer Avalon Hybrid moved 1,514 vehicles while Lexus hybrid sales jumped 52 percent. Overall, Toyota's advanced-powertrain sales hit 33,922 units.

Nissan and Ford also came up big both on the plug-in and hybrid fronts.

Nissan and Ford also came up big both on the plug-in and hybrid fronts. Nissan's Leaf battery-electric had its second-best month ever, more than quadrupling year-earlier sales to 2,138 vehicles. Ford went one better by boosting sales sixfold to 8,334 units on a combination of its newer C-Max models and a fourfold jump in Fusion Hybrid sales to 3,335 vehicles. The C-Max Hybrid moved 3,261 vehicles, while the C-Max and Fusion Plug-ins sold 450 and 416 units, respectively. The Lincoln MKZ hybrid increased sales 49 percent from a year earlier to 715 units, while the Ford Focus Electric moved 157 vehicles.

And even Honda joined in on the fun, increasing year-over-year alt-fuel sales by 9.1 percent to 1,691 units. The CR-Z increased sales 44 percent to 427 vehicles, while the Acura ILX Hybrid saw sales jump almost sixfold to 195 units. Those gains offset the 19 percent drop in Civic Hybrid sales and the 17 percent decline in Insight sales. Additionally, the Honda Accord Plug-in and Fit EV moved 58 and 15 units, respectively.

Volkswagen increased its diesel sales by eight percent to 8,477 units while moving 473 units of its newer Jetta Hybrid. Mitsubishi i EV increased sales by 7.1 percent to 91 units.

Year-to-date, plug-in sales have surged 75 percent to 23,793 vehicles.

Meanwhile, General Motors' green car sales fell 9.9 percent to 4,435 units. Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in sales were down 4.3 percent to 1,607 units, while mild-hybrid models like the Chevrolet Malibu eAssist and the Buick Regal and LaCrosse eAssist saw sales fell a combined 12 percent.

More significant sales declines were confined to lower-volume German automakers. Audi, which last month introduced a diesel version of its A8, saw diesel sales drop 36 percent to 397 units, while Porsche hybrid sales fell 75 percent to just 55 vehicles.

Year to date, US alt-fuel vehicle sales, which were way up in January but leveled off during the ensuing months, have risen 15 percent to 260,636 units. Year-to-date plug-in sales have surged 75 percent to 23,793 vehicles.