Fiat 500e Will Not be Offered in Europe

An interesting trend is starting in the electric car marketplace. Automakers are choosing not to offer their electric cars in Europe or even large portions of the US. ChevroletChevroletUnited States of America, 1911 > present82 models
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, FiatFiatItaly, 1899 > present159 models
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and in a way ScionScionJapan, 2002 > present9 models
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have all decided to exclusively offer their electric cars exclusively on the west coast of the US. 

The latest automaker to restrict its electric cars to the west coast is Fiat with the 500eFiat 500eItaly, 2013 > present2 photos
. It says that it has no plans to offer the car in Europe. It will launch in California in the second quarter of 2013 for around $35,000 with a 100-mile range. 

Chevrolet revealed today that the Spark EVChevrolet Spark EVUnited States of America, 2013 > present4 photos
will be sold in California, Oregon and parts of Canada, and it has no timeframe on when it will be available in the rest of the country. 

ToyotaToyotaJapan, 1937 > present155 models
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/Scion will sell the electric iQToyota iQ EVJapan, 2012 > present4 photos
only in California. The Rav4 EVToyota Rav4 EVJapan, 2013 > present5 photos
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is the same way. 

Part of the reason is cost. Both Toyota and Fiat have said that they are losing money on their electric compact cars. In Fiat's case, the loss is between $8,000 and $10,000 per car.

Pure electric cars make up only about 0.22% of the US auto market with sales around 26,000 cars a year. California is responsible for about 2,600 of those annual sales. 

Source: Automotive News Europe