Sales of electric vehicles continue to surge. During the recent 3rd annual National Plug In Day, the Sierra Club touted the accelerated growth in the market.

“Americans are finding out how liberating it can be to drive electric. We noticed a significant increase in electric vehicle sales following the last National Plug In Day, and the numbers keep rising,” said Plug In America president Richard Kelly. “More EVs are hitting the pavement, and they are selling. We’ve gone from 345 electric vehicles sold in December 2010 to 18,000 by December 2011 to 70,000 by the end of 2012. Last month American consumers bought more than 11,000 EVs, doubling EV sales from the previous month. To date, more than 130,000 EVs have been sold in the U.S. since late 2010 – with sales effectively growing by about 200% a year.”

“I’m going to let you in on a little secret: Today automakers are competing on innovation and efficiency, America has cut its oil use by 10 percent in the past eight years, and EVs are a big part of that success,” said Michael Brune, Sierra Club executive director. “National Plug In Day is our chance to take our electric cars on a victory lap. Sales are exploding, plug-in technology is beating gasoline-powered cars while saving Americans money on gas and reducing pollution.”

National Plug In Day, celebrated Sept. 28-29, is a cooperative venture between Plug In America, the Sierra Club, and the Electric Auto Association to demonstrate the advantages of electric vehicles to prospective buyers.