Car Dealers to Biden: EVs Aren’t Selling

livemint.com:

You can subsidize a buyer into the auto showroom, but you can’t make him buy. That’s the word from some 3,900 car dealers across the country who on Tuesday wrote President Biden that electric vehicles are piling up unsold on their lots. They want relief from his onerous and unrealistic EV sales mandate.

“There are many excellent battery electric vehicles available for consumers to purchase," the dealers write in their letter to the President. But they add that “electric vehicle demand today is not keeping up with the large influx of BEVs arriving at our dealerships prompted by the current regulations," and “BEVs are stacking up on our lots." Dealers have a 103-day supply of EVs compared to 56 days for all cars. It takes them on average 65 days to sell an EV, about twice as long as for gas-powered cars.

EV sales are slowing though manufacturers have slashed prices and increased discounts. Consumers paid on average $50,683 for an EV in September, compared to $65,000 a year ago. The reason, as the dealers explain, is that “early adopters formed an initial line and were ready to buy these vehicles as soon as we had them to sell." But most consumers aren’t “ready to make the change," in part because EVs are still too expensive.

Many apartment renters also don’t have garages for home charging, and public charging networks are spotty with one in four not functional, according to one study. “Customers are also concerned about the loss of driving range in cold or hot weather," the auto dealers say. “Some have long daily commutes and don’t have the extra time to charge the battery.