Jan 25, 2018
Afeez welcomes Lewis Black to It's Electric! Lewis runs an independent EV dealership. He sells new and used Electric Vehicles and mostly focuses on the used EV market.
Lewis explains the growth happening in the market to Afeez, and shares that it's a big reason why he's decided to focus on them now, instead of waiting. He shares statistics, as well as experience surrounding the sale of Electric cars, as well as the customer's level of awareness when buying a vehicle. He also gives some insights on why people choose to shop with independent dealerships and the perks involved with doing so, as well as his reasoning for being one of the first.
Afeez and Lewis talk about the downfall of electric cars for dealerships, and why they don't push them any harder. Lewis explains that the service centers would lose a lot of money if they pushed electric cars harder. He lists the amount of loss that garages will sustain when the market for EV's pick up, because there is so little that needs to be done to an electric car. He gives insights on how simple it is to service an EV, and how a lot of dealerships charge quite a bit for very basic checks.
Lewis talks about why people choose to do business with him, instead of going to one of the bigger dealerships. He lists things like the better pricing, the more enjoyable purchasing experience in comparison to dealing with the usual “car salesman”, the quality of information given, and the experience his customers rely on since he actually owns and drives an electric vehicle.
Afeez and Lewis list all of the benefits to EV's, as well as the differences between EV's and internal combustion engine vehicles. They talks about the market, and the reason people are choosing electric vehicles over diesel or petrol engine cars, as well as reason why people are avoiding them and sticking to what they already know. Lewis also describes the Nissan LEAF owner as a person, and paints an entire picture of his profession and family dynamic, as well as that of the Renault Zoe owner.
Afeez asks a bunch of questions about the Market, and contrasts the Nissan LEAF to the Renault Zoe in order to get a better understanding of how the two stack up against one another. Lewis is more than happy to discuss the findings, as well as the pros and cons of each, and debunk some of the hype around the Leaf in comparison to the underrated Zoe.
Finally, Lewis lists his top 5 EV's based on what customers are interested in and what they buy. Afeez expresses his own opinions about the vehicles on the list, and the two compare notes about an entire range of electric cars, including their likes and dislikes of each. Tesla is put under the microscope and dissected at length to create a solid examination of the perks and problems as well! Afeez also asks Lewis when they used EV market is expected to challenge the used Internal Combustion Engine market.
Quotes
“Pure electric EV's doubled in the last year”
“People prefer to own their vehicles rather than lease them”
“You're more likely to trust a dealer who actually owns one of these cars”
“If you actually look into it, the Zoe's one of the most popular electric vehicles in 2017”
“The most successful EV's in this country all look relatively normal, they look like a normal car”
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