Pub. 19 2020-2021 Issue 3

N E W J E R S E Y C O A L I T I O N O F A U T O M O T I V E R E T A I L E R S 13 new jersey auto retailer W W W . N J C A R . O R G EV Charging Infrastructure A few years ago, if you wanted to re- charge your EV, you needed to plug in and wait up to ten hours or more. That’s because the cars couldn’t accept a lot of power and there weren’t any charging stations that could deliver high-speed charging rates. However, in just a few short years, a lot has changed. New Jersey now has hundreds of public EV charging stations, many of which are high-speed chargers, called DC fast char- gers. The new DC fast-charging stations can add as much as 200 miles of range to an EV in about 10 minutes, making recharging an EV nearly as convenient as filling up at the pump. EV Options Are Better Than Ever While many early EVs were small hatch- backs, manufacturers are now producing the kind of EV inventory customers want. Many electric crossovers, sport utility vehicles, larger sedans and even pick-ups will be arriving in New Jersey dealerships over the next few years. These vehicles will offer single-charge driving ranges of 200 to 300+ miles. Many dealerships have seen a low inven- tory of EV stock due to COVID-related changes to production, and manufacturers send their EV inventory elsewhere. But New Jersey’s best-in-the-nation EV incen- tive program will catch the eye of manu- facturers and the drought of inventory will ultimately turn into a flood over the next few years. Dealers Need To Prepare NOW For The EV Revolution The table is being set for EVs to become a larger percentage of dealership sales. A recent survey by Shell found that 70% of new car buyers are now considering an electric vehicle. However, selling EVs is not as easy as selling conventionally-fueled cars and light trucks. Consumers have many more ques- tions and concerns about new technology and dealers must be prepared with current information. How does the New Jersey state EV rebate work? What happens if I’m running out of charge? How long do the batteries last? These are questions that many dealers are already hearing. There will be more, and the frequency of fielding these EV concerns is going to increase. For that reason, NJ CAR has partnered with Plug In America to offer dealers the PlugStar program, which provides EV-specific training to dealers and their sales staff and recommends best practices to help them sell more EVs. PlugStar isn’t meant to replace OEM training on EVs. Instead, it enhances and amplifies the manufacturer-sup- plied EV information. PlugStar is a national dealership training and certification program and has worked with thousands of dealership sales staff at hundreds of dealerships in California, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Missouri over the past four years. Now the program is available to all New Jersey dealers. PlugStar provides participating dealers with online tools to help keep the staff up-to-date with the New Jersey EV rebate program and federal EV incentives. It also helps deal- erships keep tabs on the local ride and drive opportunities for them to showcase their plug-in offerings and even offers no-charge customer leads from the PlugStar website and other program partners. The PlugStar program also helps dealers educate the public about the financial benefits of purchasing an EV. For exam- ple, Plug-In America and NJ CAR have been visiting dealers that offer EVs and providing them with a supply of reusable hangtags to better communicate the sav- ings available to consumers who choose to purchase an EV.