Walking through dealerships, counting plug-ins.

[adric22]

I normally take a walk every evening so I decided to do something different yesterday. I drove over to where several of the largest car dealers in DF/W are located, all next to each other. I decided to walk through the Ford, Chevy, and Nissan dealer and count how many plug-in cars each one had and what their enthusiasm level was for them.

Autonation Ford

• CMax Energi = 4
• Fusion Energi = 5
• Focus EV = 0

They did have an available charging station and it was not being blocked by any cars. They also had a large decal on their showroom floor window saying "EV Certified" but there were no plug-ins on the showroom floor.

Vandergriff Chevrolet

• Volt = 1

They had a charging station, but it was blocked by several dealership owned cars. Using the station would have required moving more than one car. They had no signs that I could see about plug-in cars and nothing on the showroom. The one Volt the had was stashed deep between some other models way out in the lot.

Don Davis Nissan

• Leaf=7

They have two charging stations, but they were blocked by a dealer-owned Leaf. However, the cable is long enough you could still charge by parking behind their Leaf if you wanted to. No Leafs on the showroom floor.

So what does this tell us? The Ford dealer had the most plug-ins on the lot, and seemed to be the most enthusiastic about selling them too! The Chevy Dealership seemed to have no interest at all. Is this a reflection of the dealerships themselves, or of the manufacturer? For example, is GM just not supplying the inventory to Vandergriff, or do they just not want them?

I'm thinking of going to the other side of town this weekend and performing the same research and see if I find a trend. I'd be curious to see other people do the same research in their cities and report back.

 

[DanCar]

Boardwalk Nissan has a 140 Nissan Leafs in stock.

 

[abasile]

This is anecdotal evidence, but almost every time I'm down on the SoCal freeways, I seem to see at least one plug-in Ford. I've also had at least two Ford PHEV owners use my home charging dock (on PlugShare). They seem to have some sales momentum.

 

[greengate]

I normally take a walk every evening so I decided to do something different yesterday. I drove over to where several of the largest car dealers in DF/W are located, all next to each other. I decided to walk through the Ford, Chevy, and Nissan dealer and count how many plug-in cars each one had and what their enthusiasm level was for them.

Autonation Ford

• CMax Energi = 4
• Fusion Energi = 5
• Focus EV = 0

They did have an available charging station and it was not being blocked by any cars. They also had a large decal on their showroom floor window saying "EV Certified" but there were no plug-ins on the showroom floor.

Vandergriff Chevrolet

• Volt = 1

They had a charging station, but it was blocked by several dealership owned cars. Using the station would have required moving more than one car. They had no signs that I could see about plug-in cars and nothing on the showroom. The one Volt the had was stashed deep between some other models way out in the lot.

Don Davis Nissan

• Leaf=7

They have two charging stations, but they were blocked by a dealer-owned Leaf. However, the cable is long enough you could still charge by parking behind their Leaf if you wanted to. No Leafs on the showroom floor.

So what does this tell us? The Ford dealer had the most plug-ins on the lot, and seemed to be the most enthusiastic about selling them too! The Chevy Dealership seemed to have no interest at all. Is this a reflection of the dealerships themselves, or of the manufacturer? For example, is GM just not supplying the inventory to Vandergriff, or do they just not want them?

I'm thinking of going to the other side of town this weekend and performing the same research and see if I find a trend. I'd be curious to see other people do the same research in their cities and report back.

People are slow to pickup on new technology or make change in most any manner.

When I talk with people about my Leaf..(a '13 SL,) and in a very enthusiastic manner..I still get a lot of "yes buts," mostly around the lack of a dependable charging structure. They expect to have multiple charging stations on every corner and to fill up in 5 minutes or so.

I believe one has to be personally motivated to take an active part in doing something about global warming and what is happening to the planet to make the perceived "sacrifice" to own a Leaf or similar EV. This was true for me, but after I made the decision, I came to realize there was no sacrifice at all as 90% of my driving is behind the wheel of the Leaf. Not only have I reduced my carbon footprint, I haven't been to a gas station in 15 months, gotten gas on my hands or it's fumes in my lungs and saved a whole lot of money. Clearly a no brainer.

My dealer, (The Autobarn Nissan of Evanston IL,) has 1/2 the showroom filled with Leaf's, two Level 2 and a Level 3 charger on the premises and at least 8 or 10 Leaf's on the lot and a dedicated Leaf specialist salesman who really knows his stuff. They also market the Leaf very aggressively ..semi annual open houses with Leaf owners and guests, showings at "French Markets," schools and other events within the community. There are probably more that I don't even know about. The General Manager and several people working for them own Leaf's. This probably accounts for their volume of sales, personal as well as fleets.

When I see today that one can buy a '13 S for $16,600 in IL and at this dealer after all of the rebates and incentives are realized..it seems to me the dealer has to really be behind the reason we as Leaf owners are driving these cars for there must not be much profit at this price.

Good on them!!