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Continued from page 9.
Simply put, one of the big reasons consumers aren’t the current Tesla owners and asked them what they
yet scooping up EVs in bigger numbers is because, up preferred, only 54% of Tesla owners chose the Tesla
to now, we haven’t given them very much product to approach to selling vehicles.
choose from.
“The vast majority of future EV consumers are not
That is changing and changing very rapidly. But as looking for any dramatic change in the way things
we gear up for the influx of new EVs, we run the risk are done,” explained Mike Dovorany, Escalent’s Vice
of making another faulty assumption – this time, about President of Automotive and Mobility, and the project
what it will take to get mass-market car buyers to feel lead of EVForward. “Yes, there are certain elements of
comfortable and confident about buying their first EV. Tesla’s approach that consumers really like. But on the
whole, it’s far from the definitive way that even Tesla
There’s a sentiment out there that because the most owners want to see things happen going forward.”
successful EV automaker ever – Tesla – has chosen
to utilize direct sales instead of a franchised dealer Escalent also found quite strong preferences for
model, that we must employ the direct sales model if doing many functions of an EV purchase – including
want to convert more and more Americans to electric test driving, becoming educated on the vehicle and
drivetrains. After all, the vast majority of EVs on the charging options, completing the transaction, and
road today are Teslas, so it stands to reason that future getting the vehicle serviced – in person.
EV buyers will need to be offered the Tesla experience
in order to lure them away from ICE. In a very real way, Escalent revealed that one of the
reasons Tesla’s experiment with selling direct worked
The problem is, nobody bothered to ask those future was only because the company just never gave their
EV buyers what type of sales and service experience customers any other choice. And, of course, Tesla
they wanted to have. That is, until Escalent asked. enjoys a brand attraction and customer base that is on
a different plane than most other automakers.
Escalent is a renowned human behavior and analytics
advisory firm with deep ties to the U.S. auto industry. But now that someone has taken the time to ask
Recently, Escalent completed a landmark research consumers what they actually want, it’s quite clear
project called “EVForward,” which is the largest and that the direct sales model is not the right approach.
most comprehensive study ever conducted of future And when 20,000 future EV buyers are saying that they
EV buyers. very much want – in fact, demand – for dealerships
be a big part of their EV purchase experience, OEMs
More than 20,000 legitimate EV intenders and early EV should embrace their franchised dealer network as the
adopters were asked to provide detailed feedback on competitive advantage it is.
how they wanted to learn about and experience EVs,
how they wanted to purchase EVs, how they wanted to “What our research showed us is that there are more
have those EVs serviced, and what kind of vehicles and ways for the legacy OEMs and dealers to work together
features they need to see in order to make the switch on EVs than there are areas where they may conflict,”
to electric. Dovorany explained. “If EV adoption is a goal for the
manufacturer, there is really strong evidence here that
What Escalent found was astounding. As it turns out, working with your dealer body is going to be a great
the assumption that future EV buyers want the Tesla way to help actually get those vehicles sold.”
direct-sales model is just flat wrong.
We couldn’t agree more, and we hope that our OEM
Escalent presented these future EV buyers with a de- partners always remember this as they continue to roll
branded version of the Tesla sales model and had them some really exciting and important EV products off the
respond to it. Only 20% preferred the Tesla approach. assembly line.
23% were neutral. And a full 57% chose the current
dealership model. Dealers are all-in on electrification of the fleet and
absolutely essential to widespread EV adoption. Just
To take this one step further, when Escalent identified ask our customers.
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