Hey Cool Car Fans,

About seven years ago a client of mine, who has way too much money and lives up in the Mountains of Colorado, told me that I should rebrand my business and just focus on electric and green vehicles. What’s ironic is that he made his millions in the oil and gas industry and actually owned an oil company at the time.

As The Cool Car Guy, I work with every make, model and type of vehicle, including hybrids and EV’s for my clients as well as tracking down a diesel pickup or a classic car. Basically, vehicles from one extreme to the other depending on what someone is looking for and if they want me to assist them in tracking it down for them. I have clients around the country who want very specific vehicles, including a used Tesla or other EV or hybrid vehicle.

Fast forward to 2018 and Tesla and other EV’s are now gaining in popularity, along with hybrid vehicles. Especially in States like California where gas prices can top $4.00 or $4.50 a gallon. This is one of the reasons why the Tesla Model 3 has been on track to be the number best selling passenger vehicle in the State of California in 2018. That just wasn’t happening seven years ago like it is today. Of course, I’m still not going to be changing me business model to exclusively being a green car only dealership.

GM is getting rid of the Chevy Volt hybrid in 2019, but it’s going to stick with the all electric Chevy Volt based on a demand for EV’s being more than the hybrid model. You have Porsche getting into the EV business to take on Tesla with their Porsche Taycan. I have at least one client who has already put money down to reserve his spot for one of these new Porsche’s. Just about every manufacturer is getting in on the EV bandwagon or going “green” with their vehicles to help reduce emissions. The reality is that the carbon footprint of most of these vehicles is not as “clean” as they are touting them to be because of how much it takes to create the batteries to run them.

Nevertheless, I don’t think that it’s the “green” factor that is driving demand for these vehicles as much as the economic factor. I’ve suggested numerous times that people are better off leasing a Tesla than buying one new or they should consider buying one used instead because of the massive depreciation. The economics that is driving the demand though is the simple fact that the cost of a gallon of gas in places like California, plus oil changes, maintenance, etc. is driving up the cost of owning a vehicle in these places. At $4 a gallon with a vehicle that gets 25 mpg it is $2,400 a year to drive 15,000 miles, which is about $200 a month for fuel, plus car payments, oil changes, maintenance, etc. An EV even if more expensive initially doesn’t have the additional costs of fuel and maintenance of a petroleum vehicle.

MORE CHOICES FOR THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE TODAY AND MORE TO COME

The electric vehicle is probably here to stay, which was a question less than a decade ago, based on the fact that so many manufacturers are now committed to building EV’s. A quick search through used vehicles available through the Manheim Dealer Auctions and there are about 219 currently available from a variety of car companies. These include the following for sale at this one dealer auction with more choices that are sure to be added each year:

•  BMW (10)
•  Chevrolet (18)
•  Fiat (30)
•  Ford (6)
•  Hyundai (1)
•  Kia (15)
•  Mercedes-Benz (10)

•  Mitsubishi (3)
•  Nissan (68)
•  Smart (11)
•  Tesla (32)
•  Toyota (6)
•  Volkswagen (5)

We can expect more choices in the future as car companies continue to pursue offering EV’s as part of their product offering going forward. EV’s along with hybrid vehicles are going to become much more competitive and more people will be purchasing them as a cost savings alternative to petroleum based vehicles.
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Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy
John is an auto consultant who owns CoolCarGuy.com, a licensed car dealership in Lone Tree, CO. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide. Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.comor Twitter @coolcarguy