3 Reasons Why Car Dealerships Are Slowing Electric Vehicle Adoption Could Affect Your Wallet

There are many reasons to consider purchasing an electric vehicle (EV) as your primary vehicle. You can save money on gas, help reduce carbon emissions, and bring breakthrough technologies to the road.

But when it comes to other countries that make cars, like China and Europe, the U.S. is far behind the curve when it comes to manufacturing and selling electric vehicles. Buyers around the world are opting for the all-electric drive. So if consumer demand is rising, as Ars Technica reported, why did nearly 4,000 car dealerships send letters to President Biden last year to slow electric vehicle adoption until 2032? And more importantly, how might the slow adoption of electric vehicles affect your wallet?

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If potential buyers want to get into an electric vehicle but are unable to purchase one for some reason, that means they will likely have to keep their gasoline-powered vehicles for much longer and end up paying the high price of fuel.

“If adoption really slows, it will mean higher costs in the long run for consumers to keep their gasoline cars longer,” said John Ellmore of the Electric Car Guide. “Gasoline or diesel cars cost more to run and more to maintain, so consumers will be left out financially in the long run if they can’t switch to electric sooner.”

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When electric vehicles were first introduced, governments around the world pushed consumers to buy them, using incentives and tax credits as a carrot. If the brakes are applied on the rollout, these additional benefits risk drying up.

“Government incentives for electric vehicle purchases such as tax credits, rebates or reduced registration fees are often time-sensitive or limited by production constraints,” said David Boice, CEO and co-founder of Team Velocity. “Slower adoption at the dealer level could result in customers missing out on these financial benefits, reducing the overall affordability of electric vehicles.”

“Any delays in the availability of electric vehicles will result in consumers missing out on tax relief. So when they finally make the switch, it will be less financially beneficial once the government incentives have changed,” Ellmore added.

Back in April 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy proposed a rule that would change the way the federal government calculates the average fuel efficiency of each automaker and require original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to sell more electric vehicles or else they would Doing so could risk a fine. Ars Technica reported that this is in addition to an early Biden administration goal of one in two new cars sold in 2030 being an electric vehicle.

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