11:09 am, November 23, 2020
The government has announced that sales of new petrol and diesel cars will come to an end as of 2030.
Already this year electric vehicle market share has increased to five per cent from 1.4 per cent by the same point in 2019.
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And more electric cars were sold in the last year than were sold in the previous 10.
What does this mean for car dealers, though? Well, a lot more green car sales, for a start, and potential problems for those who have never sold an EV before.
EV buyers are somewhat different so to find out some top selling points for EVs, Car Dealer spoke to electric car and charging experts Zap-Map. Here’s what they had to say.
Why do people want an electric car?
Research has shown that people who want to buy a pure electric vehicle have very different intentions to people looking for a hybrid or internal combustion engine vehicle.
Their main motivation for buying one is primarily about reducing their carbon footprint, followed by reducing running costs and access to new technology, according to Zap-Map’s research.
What do buyers want from an EV driving experience?
Buyers want engaging and low-stress driving. This is particularly applicable for first-time EV drivers.
Zap-Map notes that most buyers are immediately taken by how engaging the driving experience is due to the instantly available torque.
It recommends explaining how fun EVs are to drive, how the regenerative braking works, the almost silent driving and how this all makes for extremely low-stress driving experience.
Should sales people focus on anything else?
A great selling point for EV buyers is the fact that there are zero tailpipe emissions. Explain that this has a direct impact not just on climate change but on air quality.
According to a Pod-Point report, EVs are also 85-90 per cent energy efficient compared to petrol and diesel cars which are 17-21 per cent efficient.
Should sales staff highlight the running costs?
Yes. Those zero emissions also mean low running costs. Currently, that means vehicle excise duty is zero and so is benefit-in-kind, although it will increase to one per cent in 2021. Zap-Map adds that with most charging done at home, the average EV mile costs around 3p per mile.
What about range anxiety fears?
With 20,000 charge point devices at 12,700 locations, the UK charging infrastructure has grown significantly over the last few years.
Show potential buyers how to find chargers using apps like Zap-Map, which has the benefit of user data about those not in use, or in their vehicles own sat-nav. It’s a great reassurance to inform customers about where locally they can charge their vehicle.
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