Five Reasons Why Electric Car Sales Fail at the Dealer Level

In April Audi sold just seven A3 etrons in the US amp160Yes just seven nationally and only 437 for the year to date through May amp160Arguably the model has been superseded by the Audi etron an allelectric SUV amp160And maybe itamp8217s too expensive at 40500 but thereamp8217s a federal income tax rebate and also some state incentives amp160But the car which has already been canceled in Europe should have fared better amp160I argue that itamp8217s symptomatic of the blasamp233 attitude of dealers toward the sale of electric vehicles which translates into among many other things a failure to advertise or promote them adequatelyHere are five reasons EVs lose out on the showroom floorNot in stock amp160The Sierra Club is currently updating its 2016 amp8220Rev Upamp8221 report on electric vehicles which sent 174 club volunteers into dealers for 13 automakers in all ten states that have Zero Emission Vehicle mandates encouraging electric car sales amp160What it found was disappointing amp160More than one in five Ford and Chevrolet dealers had no charged EV for test drives amp160Only about half adequately explained how EVs are charged and a third mentioned the readily available tax creditsamp8220Nearly half the time EVs were not displayed prominently and the plugin cars were often hard to find on a dealership lotamp8221 the report said amp160Even if the cars were there the undercover volunteers asking for a test drive were often told they werenamp8217t charged and steered toward gaspowered alternativesThis is not an isolated study amp160In 2014 Consumer Reports looked at the same question and determined that 50 out of 85 dealerships badmouthed EVs or tried to talk prospective purchasers into gas or diesel models instead amp160Much of the information they gave out was incorrect amp160Itamp8217s even true in China reports McKinsey and CompanyNo mention of incentives amp160Battery electric cars are for the most part eligible for 7500 federal income tax credits amp160Exceptions are automakers such as Tesla which have reached a 200000vehicle sales quota amp160Inexperienced salespeople frequently fail to mention the incentives amp160There are state rebates that help with purchasing an ingarage charger and the cars too Connecticut offers up to 5000 for hydrogen and battery EV purchases amp160amp8220Many volunteers told us that salespeople they spoke with neglected to inform them of state and federal incentives that could lower the cost of an EVamp8221 the Sierra Club said amp160Itamp8217s important because the purchase price of most EVs without subsidies is highConflict of interest amp160Itamp8217s ironic but an accurate and objective evaluation of why an EV is a good buy for many consumers has to acknowledge the shortcomings of most of the big lumbering SUVs on the average lot amp160They cost a lot more to run than EVs which hit the highway for pennies per mile amp160This bias was obvious to Utah buyer Chelsea Dell who told the New York Times that she couldnamp8217t see the Chevrolet Volt pictured at top she requested because amp8220the car had not been washedamp8221 amp160She was steered into a Sonic instead and had to demand to see the manager to prevail and get the Volt she wanted amp160amp8220The thing I was baffled at was that the Volt was a lot more expensiveamp8221 Dell saidLack of knowledge amp160According to Consumer Reports amp8220Overall many dealership salespeople were not as knowledgeable about electric cars as you might expect amp160While we discovered several very knowledgeable salespeople at some dealerships few provided accurate and specific answers about battery life and battery warrantiesamp160 Many also didnamp8217t seem to recognize that for people who intend to go with an electric car the reasons for leasing are broader than for ordinary cars including that you donamp8217t have to wait until tax time to receive a generous tax incentiveamp8221Obviously itamp8217s up to dealers and the automakers that can produce training aids to educate their salespeople about the electric cars theyamp8217re selling amp160But the fact is that isnamp8217t happening enough amp160One outfit trying to remedy that in the face of a leadership vacuum is PlugStar an educational division of the Californiabased EV advocacy group Plug in America amp160The program started in California and then spread to the Greater Boston area amp160A hundred dealers had received training by the beginning of 2019Hieu Le Washingtonbased campaign representative for the Sierra Clubamp8217s Clean Transportation for All program concludes amp8220Giving people the right information about EVs is a critical factor in how successfully theyamp8217re sold at dealerships amp160Unfortunately salespeople havenamp8217t even been offered the training to explain battery range charging and lifetime costsavingsamp8221Service bias amp160According to Eric Evarts Editor of GreenCarReports amp8220Dealers make most of their money on service which electric cars need less of so they have a builtin incentive to sell more gas cars amp160Their entrenched practices and business model become their own discouragement to salesamp8221 amp160Evarts is right According to the National Automobile Dealers Association NADA by the end of 2018 service was half a dealeramp8217s gross profits when parts and the body shop are included amp160Did you think they made their money selling carsamp160 Profits are much on the mind of the managers who run dealerships and they want to see anything they sell come back quickly to visit the service bays amp160In many cases those mechanics havenamp8217t been trained to work on electric carsOn a visit to Hawaii a few years ago I heard a spectacular story about dealer waywardness when it comes to electric cars amp160Though there was an active electric car ownersamp8217 group on the Big Island the local Nissan dealer refused to stock the Leaf EV forcing buyers to get them on Maui and bring them back there for service amp160Despite this hassle Big Island buyers scooped up 60 Leafs by 2013 amp160amp8220The way we see it our dealer walked away from 1 million in revenueamp8221 the Founder of the Big Island EV Association Doug Teeple told meCrazy but true amp160He added that EV buyers have to be intrepid these days amp160amp8220Consumers may have to travel or place an order in a different state which is an inconvenience that drives up costs and may deter their purchaseamp8221 he saidClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Five Reasons Why Electric Car Sales Fail at the Dealer Level

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Jim Motavalli

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Five Reasons Why Electric Car Sales Fail at the Dealer Level

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