Why Only 330,000 Electric Vehicles on the Road?

Industry insiders and those who follow the business closely say that dealers may also be worrying about their bottom lines. They assert that electric vehicles do not offer dealers the same profits as gas-powered cars. 

Then there's the issue of maintenance—it's generally acknowledged that EVs require less of it, e.g., no oil changes, "undermining the biggest source of dealer profits — their service departments," writes Richtel.

According to the [National Automobile Dealers Association], dealers on average make three times as much profit from service as they do from new-car sales. A 2013 J.D. Power survey of car buyers found that about 48 percent of electric car buyers plan to take their car back to the dealer for service, compared with 57 percent for traditional cars, said Eric Cahill, who recently completed a dissertation on electric car sales for the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis.

Richtel also makes no mention of "compliance cars." This phenomenon—where manufacturers are essentially forced to offer EVs for sale if they want to sell their more lucrative models—applies to most EV models. Notable exceptions include the Nissan Leaf and Tesla.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne was quoted last year on a Brookings Institution panel as stating that "his company loses $14,000 on every sale" of a Fiat 500e." [Also posted here.]

Two exceptions to the poor evaluation of sales personnel, according to Dr. Cahill: "BMW and Nissan are among the companies whose dealers tend to be more enthusiastic and informed. He estimated that, overall, 10 percent of dealers are 'really sharp' on the technology."

"Tesla stands apart in the conversation about dealers because it doesn’t use them, selling directly to consumers," notes Richtell.