I think it’s due to: 1. It’s still a niche market for traditional makers 2. Margins are low or negative (how many Volt ads do you see? Even when Chevy would do a ‘here’s our lineup’ ad, they would not show Volts). Pickups and SUVs are high profit 3. Dealer must invest in training and equipment 4. Yes, service brings in the money and EVs need much less service.
Most people don’t consider EVs because there is virtually no marketing for them. Ads, unfortunately, work on most people. -Steve > On Feb 9, 2021, at 8:24 AM, paul dove via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > > Do you really think it’s about service? I work as an engineer so almost > everyone I know is an engineer. One would think they were open minded and > interested in technology but that is not my experience. Most of them won’t > even consider an electric. The chief engineer on the project wouldn’t even > ride in my Tesla. Calls it my golf cart. Another guy says he likes the loud > noise made by his ice and that’s part of the thrill. I influenced 4 in my > office into buying a Tesla by letting them drive mine. What is needed is a > paradigm shift. I think this is what you see with salespersons they think the > whole idea is stupid > > > Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail for iPhone > > > On Monday, February 8, 2021, 4:22 PM, david via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > > I live in South Florida, there are Teslas and a few Leaf's. My Nissan dealer > shares a technician with 3 other dealerships who is certified to work on the > electric parts of the Leaf. That technician is also certified for the GT > cars so he has a lot of training and there is a lot of demand. I had an > electric break assist recall that needed firmware update. I waited over a > week for this really smart young man to do it. If you sell it you need to > service it. I suspect regular ICE mechanics don’t want to learn about the > computer systems. > > David Kerzel > > -----Original Message----- > From: EV <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Peri Hartman via EV > Sent: Monday, February 8, 2021 12:01 PM > To: Electric Vehicle Discussion List <[email protected]> > Cc: Peri Hartman <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [EVDL] Bad Dealers (EV acceptance training) > > Regarding lack of EV promotion by dealers, the business model will have to > change. Everyone knows they make most (all ?) their money from service. > Naturally, they are going to promote vehicles that bring them the highest > level of service income, balanced somehow with selling something that > consumers want. > > A new business model needs to shift some of the profit to the sales segment. > But that's a non starter if it's going to cause the sales cost of the car to > go up a thousand or two dollars. So, I think, that's going to push > dealerships into finding a way to lower overhead. > > The first question is what do consumers want from a dealer when shopping ? > Surely, it's mostly the touch & feel plus the test drive. Otherwise, why have > a dealer at all ? So, my guess is that a new model will be more like Tesla's. > That is, a tiny staff and a handful or cars for viewing and test driving and > little or no inventory. Maybe a VR simulator for checking out options. You > decide what you want and order a car. > > Just watch what happens over the next few years. New dealerships will open, > and I'll be some will use a model something like this. > > Peri > > << Annoyed by leaf blowers ? https://quietcleanseattle.org/ >> > > ------ Original Message ------ > From: "Steves via EV" <[email protected]> > To: "Electric Vehicle Discussion List" <[email protected]> > Cc: "Steves" <[email protected]> > Sent: 08-Feb-21 8:26:53 AM > Subject: Re: [EVDL] EV acceptance training > >> I think dealers of all makes are bad at this. We had similar experiences >> with Ford. >> >> When my daughter was looking for a car I tried to find her a plug in hybrid. >> They basically don’t exist in Virginia. She finally found a hybrid RAV4 >> which is really nice. >> >> -Steve >> >>>> On Feb 8, 2021, at 11:13 AM, Peter VanDerWal via EV <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>> >>> GM has a fantastic EV engineering department, hampered by probably the >>> WORST EV sales team. If they want to make a difference they need to train >>> their DEALERS. It's not the customers that are the problem. >>> >>> Many of the local GM dealers refuse to carry EVs and actively try to >>> talk you out of purchasing them. The few dealers that do carry them, >>> only stock a couple and don't make any effort to promote them. THe >>> last time I was shopping for an EV the dealer (that had one) diddn't >>> even know where they had hidden it. It took them 20 minutes to find >>> it and it didn't have the feature I most wanted (DC fast charging) >>> >>> February 6, 2021 2:00 PM, "Peri Hartman via EV" <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Another article today about GM's "commitment" to EVs. >>>> >>>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/02/06/auto-in >>>> dustry-peers-into-an-electric-f >>>> ture-sees-bumps-ahead >>>> >>>> GM has prepared a superbowl ad that portrays GM as being angry that >>>> Norway sells more EVs than US. I doubt this means GM expects to >>>> suddenly double their EV sales, or something like that. But I see >>>> this very positively, in that if viewers see EVs as being portrayed >>>> as mainstream, resistance will drop. >>>> >>>> ----- >>>> >>>> Conquering Norway’s small car market won’t make or break the fate >>>> of GM, which has been making cars for more than a century. But the >>>> good-humored GM ad — one of two EV ads the company will air — is >>>> another sign that the world’s fourth-largest automobile company >>>> might be trying to steer its way toward a new era of electric vehicles. >>>> ... >>>> David R. Keith, a Chevy Bolt owner and assistant professor at the >>>> Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of >>>> Technology, said “given that EVs cost more than conventional >>>> vehicles and we’re at a point where consumers are not making lavish >>>> discretionary purchases, the question is not, ‘Can we sell to the >>>> wealthy?’ It is, ‘Can we get the everyday household in mainstream >>>> America to buy an EV?’ and we’re still a long way away from that.” >>>> ... >>>> many GM workers in software were disappointed. One current GM >>>> employee said there were “good benefits” and a “good work/life >>>> balance,” but “too much time spent on meetings and political >>>> games.” The advice to management? “It is hopeless. IT management >>>> needs to be completely replaced. IT bureaucracy is an obstacle for >>>> innovation.” >>>> >>>> -------- >>>> >>>> The article covers other aspects, too. >>>> Peri >>>> >>>> << Annoyed by leaf blowers ? https://quietcleanseattle.org >> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub >>>> ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive LIST INFO: >>>> http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org >>> _______________________________________________ >>> UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub >>> ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/ LIST INFO: >>> http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org >> >> _______________________________________________ >> UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub >> ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/ >> LIST INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/ > LIST INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/ > LIST INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20210209/1e1f3fff/attachment.html> > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/ > LIST INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/ LIST INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org
