49 Percent Of Dealerships Are ‘Not Excited At All’ To Sell EVs: Study
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While some customers are quick to embrace all-electric powertrains, plenty of others are more hesitant, leading to significant strategy shifts in the industry-wide EV transition. That variation in enthusiasm extends to dealerships, as well. Now, a new study indicates that nearly half of dealerships across the U.S. aren’t very excited to sell EVs.
The study was published by CDK Global, a company that provides dealership management system (DMS) software to dealers across the nation, among other services. CDK Global was recently in the news for a major hack that left its DMS services offline for weeks.
Now, CDK Global has published a new study looking at the enthusiasm expressed by U.S. auto dealers with regard to EV sales. The study included feedback from 250 individual dealerships in regions across all 50 states. The results of the study indicate that 49 percent of dealer sales teams are not excited at all about the prospect of selling EVs.
The level of enthusiasm was broken down into three levels: Not excited at all, Moderately excited, and Very excited. The study found that enthusiasm was markedly different between different U.S. regions. For example, 75 percent of auto dealerships in the Mountain region indicated that they were not excited at all about selling EVs, while the remaining 25 percent indicated moderate excitement. In the East South Central region, 89 percent said they were not excited at all, six percent expressed moderate excitement, and six percent said they were very excited. The Mid-Atlantic region was another pessimistic area, with 84 percent expressing no excitement at all, 10 percent expressing moderate excitement, and seven percent saying they were very excited.
Among those dealers that were less enthusiastic, several concerns were expressed, with wide temperature swings, mountainous terrain, and long distances between communities all serving as region-specific barriers to EV enthusiasm.
At the other end of the spectrum, the New England region expressed the most excitement, with 25 percent very excited to sell EVs, 17 percent moderately excited, and 59 percent not excited at all. In the Pacific region, 10 percent of dealers were very excited, 36 percent were moderately excited, and 54 percent were not excited at all.
Despite widespread pessimism, growth in the EV segment continues, and experts expect a second wave of EV shoppers to enter the market later this decade. To capitalize on this, CDK suggests that dealer staff is well-trained to educate customers about EVs, focusing on the benefits of EV ownership, tax incentives, range, charging options, and maintenance details.
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No kidding. It’s starting to get REALLY boring constantly hearing about EVs, day in and day out. I guess that’s all most automakers have to talk about these days.
I wouldn’t mind hearing about it if the technology improved: e.g., a new kind of battery on a car for sale today that offers more range. But if we’re keeping it real, a lot of the EVs are sharing the same components.
Haha – the thing no one has mentioned is that for me, the reliability of EVs compared to ice is getting better, not because the EVs are getting any better, but the latest designed ices are getting so much worse.
Item: Over at FORD Authority, FORD has just authorized Total replacement of the 1000 cc Ecoboost engine in the Fiesta, etc.
This is the Engine in 2017 that got 180 reviews as ‘internationally the Best Engine’ which shows how Clueless these reviewers are as it turns out to be the biggest Hunk of Junk engine Ford has ever put in a car.
The obvious problem here is they are replacing Junk with Junk.
Item: You can’t buy a big v-8 GM engine this year that is guaranteed to be reliable since both the new and old cylinder deactivation schemes cause lifter trouble.
This shouldn’t be an advantage that EVs have. But the big manufacturers have forgotten how to make reliable ice drive trains.
The unreliability isn’t by accident…..
I never thought of it like that, but you could be right 100%.
Chevrolet V8 engines have been a rock since first introduced in 1955 as a 265 CI.
It is very sad, what has happened in the last couple of years to cause them to be ticking time bombs.
You remind me of old horse owners in the early 1900s who said similar things about the new automobiles. People like you are stuck in tbe past!
Ok Boomer
No, people like them aren’t gullible enough to spend their hard earned money on something they do not want because the media, incompetent executives, and idiot politicians tell them they should.
And the guaranteed value loss at trade/sell time. Brutal.
Dotto. I find that vast majority of naysayers dont have an ev and many have never driven an rv I am on number three. Each has been a significant improvement. My current Equinox ev show a range of 340 miles on a full charge. Likely giving me over 300 miles of range at highway speeds. Operating costs are nil, fun factor is high dealers that dont sell evs will eventually get left in the dust. Ev sales are up again this year and doing quite well no matter what the msm says. Btw, I am a 75 year old conservative. Not a tree hugger or woke dreamer
Buy what works for you!
And you could’ve bought a gas EV for about $10,000 less without the ‘leash attached to it’
Until they can get the price down and range increased EV is NOT a viable choice.
And don’t even mention the ‘tax credit’ being paid for with TAXPAYER money!!🤬🤬🤬🤬
Rather dumb comparison.
Horses were the main mode of very early transportation for specific reasons, the biggest reason was town populations lived their lives in town or the next one over. There wasn’t the need to go beyond thar like today. There was no need for mechanized travel.
When people needed a common sense method to go further, or where no horse could, innovation was front and center to make going longer distances achievable. Other considerations like protection from the weather certainly played a part, as well as convenience, comfort, and safety.
Likening a horse to an automobile is just a ridiculously cheap talking point to defend EVs….and a weak one at that.
These constant horse & buggy comparisons to an automobile are patently dumb, but popular on me-too social sites.
In the meantime, if an EV suits you, that’s great. Otherwise, stop speaking for others who don’t wish to have one. It’s an attempt at controlling others who don’t think like you.
Another point: cars replaced horses when they became affordable and the infrastructure was there. NOT when some bureaucrat imposed a deadline.
Really was into the 1930’s before this happened. (Pre-war roads were terrible in much of the US and Europe, really only suitable for horses; if you needed distance you took a train.)
Fun fact: WWII Germany’s Wehrmacht, with their motorized Blitzkrieg and Panther/Tiger tanks, relied heavily on HORSES for their supplies and logistics!!
Kind of like the dumb ass “buggy whip” argument
I did not realize how old you are to have personally eavesdropped on ppl in the early 1900’s.
That’s better known as reading and researching the history in this great country. Give it a try instead of pretending to be a Facebook know-it-all.
Documented American history is not only amazing to learn about, it teaches liberals to stop pretending to know everything based on crap that’s posted on your favorite me-too social website.
Except the horseless carriage was actually an upgrade in every way than owning a horse. It didn’t need to be fed all the time, didn’t s*** all over the place, could run for hours tirelessly, didn’t require constant unhooking and re-hooking up to a carriage just to carry more passengers, and didn’t need to be put down permanently and fully replaced when it had a broken wheel. It was a genuine upgrade.
Current EVs from current ICEs, are not. Far longer refuel times, less range, range that vastly differs based on outside temperature, range that drops by 1/3rd when towing, higher insurance costs making up for the savings in gas, no savings in gas if you cannot charge at home (because public charging costs just as much), weigh significantly more than ICEs, and batteries that won’t hold their full range after a few years which may require full replacement leading to these cars having abysmal resale values.
Is it any wonder that half of Americans and dealers aren’t interested and half of EV owners want to go back to ICE? When they start to be better than ICEs in every way that actually matters to most customers and not because it can do 0-60 in 3 seconds, can Netflix and Chill in a Costco parking lot, and a horn that makes farting noises then we can talk. Until then, customers want to spend their hard earned cash in something practical and dealers want cars people want to buy. NOT lot decorations.
Some of us are only stuck in the past because getting the towing capacity and range that I get in my current ICE vehicle is not yet available.
And then there is the 15-20% up charge on the EV version.
This comparison is so incorrect and worn out, electric cars and ICE cars are both cars, stop making that horse to car comparison, they both do the same thing, both cars, both go down the road, travel on the highway, both have 4 wheels, headlights, taillights, wipers doors, a/c etc, stop acting so snobby about it, perhaps people would have a better attitude towards electric cars if supporters of electric cars didn’t act like condescending jackwagons…..
And you still feel like chiming in all the time with the same message worded differently. That might be the boring part of it.
The auto industry is boring AF right now. EVs and crossovers for old women, yippy.
You can call this the Malaise II Era. I think that these are the darkest days ever for the traditional American auto industry. Record low employment, record number of vehicles being made in low-wage countries and shipped here, record high prices. If the political and management situation does not change within the next year or two, I seriously doubt the long-term viability of the auto industry.
Because they can’t add “Market Adjustment ” pricing…
How hard did they work on this report? Lol
Yeah lets see, the stealership sells you an EV and most likely will never see you again until you are ready for another one which could take Five to Eight years. What a shocker that they are anti EV
Delusional. A friend just took his honda in for service, all sorts of warning lights going off. After a couple of days, problem was in the camera in the side mirror. Umm, lmme think, yep, EV’s have those too. Otherwise the car has run trouble free for years. Hybrid, which has an IC engine. And who can forget the problem tsla had because they were writing too much logging info into a memory chip with a limited number of r/w cycles. Result, needed to replace the module. And yet there is no IC engine in it. How can it be?
Forgot to mention, dealer collected a nice 2700 for the work. And I believe my friend had few alternatives to a dealer visit. I don’t think an independent has the tools to even diagnose it.
Yeah Legacy needs to figure it out very quickly. Sorry to hear that about your friend. Was it an Ultium?
I have had two EV’s a little over five year time and the only time the store has seen me is when I picked up my cars. That has been twice Lol
To be fair, I do two tire rotations a year but they come to my office and I do not even see anyone.
My App just gets updated and payment is handled automatically.
You missed my point entirely. It is like you don’t understand there are innumerable components in a car that have absolutely nothing to do with locomotion. HVAC system (and the battery of course has its own unique cooling/heating system), the massive infotainment subsystem now, radars, cameras, (and gm has the rearview camera mirror now) lights, wipers, motorized seats, ventilated seats, … And then you still have brakes, suspension components. EV’s may not have an ICE, but a modern car the ICE is rarely the thing getting fixed. I have a 12 year old car and the only major work I’ve had done is the mag shocks started leaking and needed replacing. Over 3K for MR shocks. So in the case of my friend’s legacy car, it is a problem that could happen to an EV, failure of the camera system in the sideview mirror for BLS. The car decided that BLS failing was an existential threat and threw up.
@mkAtx
I have not missed your point.
I stated that I have had two separate cars for over five years and have not ONE time besides for picking up my cars have I been to the Store at all.
No AC issue.
No maintenance
No electrical issues
No brakes
No pads
No infotainment systems
No physical recall
Just sounds like maybe Legacy Automakers build parts to be broken so you can go to the dealership. Trust me I have been to the dealership prior to switching over way too often.
Maybe if I kept my car longer than the five years something would have popped up but that is not enough for Dealerships to remain profitable.
Hopefully Legacy Auto catches up, they will need to.
Yep little maintenance they can get you on. Brakes maybe and coolant changes. And if the pricing was reasonable enough as at least mine was I would gladly let them get the business.
Sounds like the dealerships needs to be asked a single question. Do you want to sell EVs or not. If not, they lose the franchise rights to sell the brand and the manufacturer can direct sell to the customer.
Also, if any customer has a negative experience trying to buy an EV, once there are so many negative experiences, no more franchise.
No more picking and choosing which customers you want. You either sell or you don’t.
What kind of psycho, commie nonsense is this!?
The Mandate People tell you what you have to buy , like it or not unless we vote them out. Otherwise Mandate is the new Freedom. Think carefully and keep Freedom of Choice in the USA not Mandate!
Remember my comment on the concern of Chinese global rule and how it goes beyond just economics but in how they can influence other nations including western nations? Yeah, what you mention there, is an example of that. And there are many in our political system that would love to see such a system in place here.
I can’t imagine being this much of a fascist. Wow.
You and your mandate-leaning nonsense…..ugh.
Just like Covid, you lefties are just so damned eager to dump on people’s livelihoods and lifestyles just so you can feel good about your point of view.
That’s arrogant, and it’s pathetic.
Please move to China or Russia. Or even better, North Korea. They have the way of life your are seeking for there.
this is relatively vague and useless information. Honestly, a lot of these dealers can barely keep up with the tech on ICE cars so its not surprising they are scared of EVs- dealerships and their staff are not exactly cutting edge types in my experience. At least in my area the staff tend to be mostly male, often skewing older and many of them are not up to date on the latest automakers are offering. They arent big on change in general.
Dealer employees are not scared of the ev tech. They need to sell what the customer is demanding. Manufacturers provide plenty of ev training. There is not much to learn. You plug the car in. There are charts showing how long the range is, and how long each level charger will take. What sucks is you sell the customer the car that is rated for 290 miles of range, but 2 miles down the road the customer has the ac on full blast and the car says your range is now 240 miles.
Or the one I liked was Ford suggesting you not use the heater to heat the car. Just use the heated seats because it doesn’t cut down your range as much.
I wonder how that worked out for defrosting and defogging windows?
Dealership employees are comission. They match the customer’s excitement. They will not be excited to sell evs until the customer base is, if ever.
yes they are commissioned based…with that being said there is ZERO mark up in an EV …MSRP is the same as employee pricing…sales staff does not want to even take a client that wants an EV. too much time going over all the tech, trying to get the client to wrap their head around everything the car can do and once they take it off the lot you have to baby sit them forever! all that for a 200-dollar flat and chance for a bad survey that will affect the salespersons pay from GM …NO thanks, when someone walks in for an EV everyone runs….
In terms of maintenance EV’s have many systems that have issues requiring repairs and maintenance.
And don’t forget recalls:
Look up the list of vehicles with the most recalls. At the top of the list are more than one Tesla models.
Then look at the number of recalls. The Tesla vehicles are way beyond the others on the list.
And dont forget new tires needed at a rate two times faster than EVs.
@Tigger
Absolutely inaccurate.
Yes they are swapped quicker but nowhere near that rate of two times faster Lol
Also, newer tires now are made for EV’s
If there is one thing I don’t agree with the rest of EV resisters (which I am one), is that they will take away mechanic jobs. I think the contrary. I think these cars will be riddled with electrical problems mechanics will be even more in demand. They may need a different kind of training (more focused on being electricians or software programmers) but the problems will be there.
I am not surprised. I live 10 miles from a very large US city and drive a 60 mile daily commute. I’m a longtime car guy so I watch the traffic. I see very few EV’s, including one Tesla that lives near me. Almost no interest here.
yes they are commissioned based…with that being said there is ZERO mark up in an EV …MSRP is the same as employee pricing…sales staff does not want to even take a client that wants an EV. too much time going over all the tech, trying to get the client to wrap their head around everything the car can do and once they take it off the lot you have to baby sit them forever! all that for a 200-dollar flat and chance for a bad survey that will affect the salespersons pay from GM …NO thanks, when someone walks in for an EV everyone runs….
The real question is will the government continue to force the automaker to make EV mandatory in 2035 or not.
Even if only the CARB states force this the automakers will still have to continue EV investments.
This is just a deal where they need to just let them build the EV models but not kill ICE. Let The EV models earn their way not being forced on the public.
We had 120 years to develop ICE but only about 20 years of focused investment on EV. Bu the Green Zealots will not accept that.
The government, especially under this administration, has done a good job of f’ing up this industry. Cancelled plants, layoffs, shift eliminations.
Not all states that have been using current CARB standards are following Cali ACC II mandates, and of the ones that are, I suspect ACC II will not stick everywhere. There are dealers in NH (non ACC II), advising customers in VT (follows ACC II) that when implementation starts in 2027 to fear not, they will deliver to them. Interstate commerce laws cannot stop it, and ACC II only counts vehicles delivered to in state dealer locations.
My local Chevy dealer in Tupelo, MS (largest city in N MS had 42 new vehicles on their lot with 10 EV’s, 8 Blazers & 2 Equinox. The Blazers have been sitting a while and so willthe newly arrived Equinox.
No surprise that dealers anyplace where temps go below freezing (thus needing the inventory electrics to be on chargers) want nothing to do with electrics.
Then there’s the un-sellable trades you’ll be getting with just a day or two left on the battery warranty.
Well all that seems to make sense considering more than 50% of the public have no interest in EVs at this time
I work for an oil and gas company. Never any interest in an EV. That changed when the Hummer came out. I was instantly wanting it. Super impressed. Cool fun truck. It is the ONLY reason I even considered an EV. Too expensive, I hate the government telling me what to do and I’m on the right side of the political spectrum. However, I have grown to love the EV. Yes the hummer is super cool and that helps but the easy of plugging in at home once a week to charge, instant acceleration, no engine noise, etc has been great. Not sure i could go back to ICE. However these EVs are too much money. A work truck model Silverado at my local dealership is priced at 79,995. The equivalent ICE work truck is near 30k. Why would anyone spend that much more just for the same crappy interior, bare bones feature truck. That truck should be 50k max. If it was I think the adoption may go way up but hard to justify for most of the EVs out there. Hummer included.
Congrats on one of the worst “status symbols” ever created, lol.
I don’t recall liking my battery powered car as a four year old. You remember? The battery powered car that your dad finally had to break down and buy two batteries so you could use the car while the other one charged. In 30 minutes, both were dead and you had to wait overnight before you could use it again. Ahh yes. And the difference is? Lol
And in other news: It’s reported that 49% of the dealers and it’s lazy sales staff have zero clue about EV’s, the benefits of them, what assistance is offered for first time EV buyers, etc. And of those “49%” dealers, most have probably never driven an EV more than around the dealership lot.
I just got back from a vacation back to the mid-west to visit family. With moderate driving and buying the cheapest gas I could find for the van, it still cost me $200 bucks (100 per week) to fill it. I’ve forgotten just how bad the smells are at the gas stations, how nasty the filler nozzles are and how costly it is to fill up. I was in heaven when I got back to my Bolt EV. I spent more for gas in two weeks of driving than I’ve spent on charging for the past year.
Why didn’t you drive the bolt??
Because I don’t want to drive for 2 1/2 days across country no matter if ICE or EV. It’s called flying. haha.
In your electric plane? In one post you’re griping about climate change and in this post you’re hopping on a plane.
A typical greenie/lefty contradiction.
Oh, ok. You “got me” morrisangelo. You are so clever.
You comment is so stupid that no further response is warranted.
You were remarkably easy to “get”. You’re a tree-hugging lefty who lives by, and preaches double standards.
Hey, if you’re dedicated to stopping global warming, that’s great. Now put away, and stop using, that which you say is causing it….if you can leave your double standards behind.
Its had worn off for sure, my dealer has so many that they have Lyriqs parked at the overflow lot.
Cam: Are you saying that same thing about Ford F150’s and Chevy Tahoe’s and Silverado’s and others? If not, why?
I drive past a Ford dealer daily where they have F-series trucks sitting everywhere. The Chevy store I got my Bolt from is packed with Silverado’s and gas powered SUV”s.
So I have zero problem with you saying what you did as long as you don’t try to paint the (false) picture of this being just an EV issue. Where I work, we have ICE powered Mazda’s and Volvo’s bursting at the seams and yet we have almost no EV’s at all. The only half-hearted attempt thus far by Mazda is their PHEV CX70/CX90 and they are selling as fast as they come in. But we sure have a lot if the gas hog ICE models sitting.
And you could’ve bought a gas EV for about $10,000 less without the ‘leash attached to it’
Until they can get the price down and range increased EV is NOT a viable choice.
And don’t even mention the ‘tax credit’ being paid for with TAXPAYER money!!🤬🤬🤬🤬
Paul: What is a “gas EV”?
Don’t worry. We won’t mention the massive tax incentives and subsidies that the oil/gas industry get. All at the expense of, yes, the tax-payers. And where do you think the money for FEMA comes from? Keep burning your gas/diesel and things will continue to get worse than how bad it is already. Then you can come on here and complain about your tax money going to FEMA to help with all these extreme weather related issues. Your welcome.
Don’t worry Paul, you can plug in your EV and power your home with a gasoline or diesel powered generator when the power goes out for weeks at a time when a weather event as old as Mother Earth herself occurs. OH WAIT.
To me, I’m not sure there is going to be a ‘Second Wave’ of EV Excitement from the public.
EVs are slowly growing sales, slowly being the operative word. When Manufacturers come out with a relatively decent EV people seem to jump on them such as the LYRIQ by Cadillac or the 3-Row EV9 by Kia/Hundai.
For the time being, at least GM is TRYING to build a good EV, those that they don’t discontinue after getting somewhat popular, such as the BOLT or VOLT, or Caddy ELR. I’m a bit suspicious of Ford and Kia, but they are certainly trying to put forth at least half an effort…
MANDATED EVs won’t come to pass in the States… People just won’t allow it for 2 reasons.
1). ICE vehicles are generally very good at what they do, and can be made reliable, along with tolerable refueling cost.
2). EVs are getting better, yet are still in their ‘Developmental’ period. Some people’s driving habits just require either full ICE’s or ice-hybrids.
To prove those points, my silly state (NY) tried to ban gas stoves, and more importantly, ban gas heating equipment for EXISTING homes. These requirements were seriously scaled back when the public basically revolted. Now, only new construction must have those things. This is equally dopey but it will take some time to show the bone-headedness of this, such as when power outages occur and the electric homes have no heat.
That dopey program would use far more electricity than even forcing everyone to drive only EVs. Nothing of this sort will come to pass – although GERMANY is in the process of ruining their country unless people start developing some backbone.
Those 49% that are not excited about EVs are the dealerships that will not be in business long.