In many ways, electric cars are the future, today. They offer a number of benefits you just can’t get with a regular gasoline-powered car, and for a skilled automotive sales professional, that could make for a fun experience getting people excited about EVs.
Want a little insight into how to sell people on the unique benefits of electric vehicles? Here’s what you need to know after finishing auto sales training.
Auto Sales Pros Can Sell People on the Long-Term Financial Benefits of EVs
That an electric vehicle costs more up front isn’t really up for debate—even after rebates, you’re looking at a minimum buy-in of over $30,000. By comparison, a new and perfectly serviceable gas-powered car can be had for less than $20,000. But electric cars can be much more economical in the long term.
Fuel is the major area for savings. A subcompact car driving the Canadian average of 20,000 km per year would need about $1,908 worth of gasoline per year. By comparison, the annual energy cost of a 2016 Chevrolet Volt electric car is just $904. Add in the fact that electric cars have fewer moving parts to break down or degrade—and correspondingly lower maintenance costs and longer lifespans—and it becomes pretty likely that the owner of a modern EV will save a bit of money in the long run.
This has become a major selling point for the big EV producers, so why not use it in automotive sales careers, too? Stress the long-term potential for an EV to save money and you could get people excited about buying their first electric or hybrid car.
Pros in Automotive Sales Careers Can Also Point to the Unique Driving Experience
People spend a lot of time driving, so the fact that electric cars can make the experience a pretty pleasant one is a big point in their favour.
Cars that can run wholly off of electric power—generally meaning all-electric or plug-in hybrid cars—have incredible acceleration. This isn’t brand or model-dependent, but rather a by-product of electric motor technology. For people who like a car that can move, being able to go 0-100 quickly could be a huge sell.
Beyond that, electric cars are quieter than gasoline powered cars—another major difference between running a car off of a battery and not off of little gas-fueled explosions. People who want their car to sound beastly may not love this, but for people who want something calm and pleasant, nothing tops an EV.
These are both things that might best sell themselves, so maybe give buyers a tease of what they can expect, but then let the test-drive do the rest of the work. More often than not, you can likely expect the buyers to be wowed by the experience.
Pros in Automotive Sales Careers Can Point to Lifestyle Benefits for the Average Driver
Students heading into automotive sales school likely know that the limited range of an electric car—at most only a few hundred km on a full charge—is often seen as a problem. For the average commuter or city slicker, though, that kind of distance is far more than is generally needed in a given day, and so isn’t a concern.
Additionally, an electric car can be far easier to top up than a gas-powered car. Most EVs can be plugged in to charge at home, and more and more office buildings and apartment complexes are adding electric charging stations as well. That means a driver in the right situation could conceivably wake up to a fully charged car, drive to work, charge again, and leave work with more charge than they had when they arrived. Except for on long road trips, these kinds of drivers could conceivably never need to go to a public charging station. How many drivers of gas-powered cars can claim they never need to visit a gas station?
It’s important to get to know your client before you start selling the car, so be sure to check in with them about their needs before you sell them on an EV. For the person in the right situation, though, pointing out the potential time and effort savings they can enjoy by going electric could make the sale.
Do you want to learn more about how to sell electric cars to buyers?
Contact Automotive Training Centres to begin car sales training in Toronto!
