The State Of Affairs For All Cars Electric

Matt Richtel writes in the NYT that one big reason there are only about 330,000 electric vehicles on the road is that car dealers show little enthusiasm for putting consumers into electric cars. 

 Industry insiders say that electric vehicles do not offer dealers the same profits as gas-powered cars, they take more time to sell because of the explaining required, and electric vehicles may require less maintenance, undermining the biggest source of dealer profits — their service departments. Some electric car buyers have said they felt as if they were the ones doing the selling. 

Chelsea Dell made an appointment to test-drive a used Volt but when she arrived, she said, a salesman told her that the car hadn't been washed, and that he had instead readied a less expensive, gas-powered car.

 "I was ready to pull the trigger, and they were trying to muscle me into a Chevy Sonic," says Dell. 

"The thing I was baffled at was that the Volt was a lot more expensive." Marc Deutsch, Nissan's business development manager for electric vehicles says some salespeople just can't rationalize the time it takes to sell the cars.

 A salesperson "can sell two gas burners in less than it takes to sell a Leaf," Deutsch says. "It's a lot of work for a little pay."

Jared Allen says that service is crucial to dealer profits and that dealers didn't want to push consumers into electric cars that might make them less inclined to return for service. 

 Maybe that helps explains the experience of Robert Kast, who last year leased a Volkswagen e-Golf from a local dealer. 

He said the salesman offered him a $15-per-month maintenance package that included service for oil changes, belt repair and water pumps. 

"I said: 'You know it doesn't have any of those things,'" Mr. Kast recalled. He said the salesman excused himself to go confirm this with his manager. 

Of the whole experience, Mr. Kast, 61, said:

 "I knew a whole lot more about the car than anyone in the building." "Until selling a plug-in electric car is as quick and easy as selling any other vehicle that nets the dealer the same profit, many dealers will avoid them, for very logical and understandable reasons," says John Voelker.

 "That means that the appropriate question should be directed to makers of electric cars: 

What are you doing to make selling electric cars as profitable and painless for your dealers as selling gasoline or diesel vehicles?"