New technologies, shifting regulations, and increasingly intriguing designs for electric vehicles seem to pop up often in the media. Even though getting to fully electric cars might be challenging, research shows that shocking the transport industry is critical for achieving important climate change goals. However, the dealer is still missing from the EV omnipresence experience.
A new report released today by the Sierra Club found that 66% of car dealerships throughout the US did not offer any electric vehicles for sale. And just 44% of those dealers said they would utilise an EV for sale if they had the chance to do so. While this is an improvement over the Sierra Club’s earlier 2019 forecast, it is still woefully inadequate in light of the massive EV targets already in place by businesses and particular state legislation.
[Related: EV manufacturers acknowledge their own shortcomings in clean energy study.]
In a press statement, Sierra Club Clean Transport for All Director Katherine Garcia said, “It is crucial that we speed the shift to all-electric lorries to help prevent the worst effects of environment interruption and safeguard our neighbourhoods.” It’s time for the auto industry to stop making promises it can’t keep and start putting electric semis on dealer lots.
The semiconductor and battery supply chain is a major stumbling block to bringing EVs to the lots, but some major companies are also contributing to the problem. It’s fairly uncommon for major manufacturers to have a limited selection of electric vehicles (EVs) accessible in the United States; for instance, Honda won’t release their first EV in the United States until 2024, while Toyota just started selling the BZ4X in the United States in 2015.
Selling electric vehicles (EVs) is not as lucrative for car lots as selling conventional internal combustion engine cars. According to the National Automobile Dealers Association, a large majority of a dealer’s profits come from selling and servicing vehicles, but this isn’t as important for electric vehicles.
Assistant professor of marketing at Indiana University Vivek Astvansh told Vox that, “all else being equal, an electrical vehicle has fewer mechanical parts than a fuel or diesel cars and truck,” which “straight indicates that the profits a vehicle dealership makes from an electrical cars and truck is much lower than what the dealership will make from a petrol or diesel equivalent.”
Moreover, the cost of purchasing infrastructure, such as battery chargers and infrastructure, as well as retraining staff on the ins and outs of electric vehicles, can be substantial. According to Vox’s investigation, some manufacturers are enforcing EV standards for their dealers.
[Related: Here are the situations in which experts recommend upgrading to an EV.]
The opportunity to buy directly from EV manufacturers like Rivian and Lucid can put pressure on dealerships to begin electrifying their inventory. The analysis estimates that there will be 615,724 EVs offered in 2022, with 65 percent of them being sold in states where regulation allows direct sales.
And if you’re trying to find a dealer with an EV in stock, your best bet is to look in the Southeast (where 41% of dealers carry EVs) or at Mercedes-Benz vehicle dealerships, where over 75% of deal EVs.
The moment to take action, for dealers, is now. Recent electric vehicles have seen 1.9 million reservations or pre-orders, and the percentage of EVs in new car sales has quadrupled since 2020.