[MichBolt]

One of the reasons I bought a Bolt was because the presence of EV certified Chevy dealerships made service and support more palatable, compared to a Tesla model where I'd have to work with relatively remote or delayed support from a service center or a mobile repair tech.

On the other hand, I can't say that I've had great experiences with dealerships in general, and those experiences might end up being a hindrance rather than a help for EV adoption.

It's apparently getting ugly with the Ford Mustang Mach-E and dealership mark-ups, with Ford making things worse by setting the dealership invoice price to be the same as the MSRP, and penalizing dealers for selling below MSRP.

https://jalopnik.com/ford-wants-to-compete-with-tesla-but-its-dealers-are-g-1847694720

 

[RacerX00]

Dealerships are like lobbyists, everyone hates them but no one understands that we need them. The problem isn't that they exist, it's how they exist.

In the case of a lobbyist, your average congressperson knows jack about almost every issue. The best congress people have 1 or 2 issues they're truly experts at. Lobbyists should come in and inform them on say, EV standards and how they should be implemented and how the industry sees it. The problem isn't that they exist, it's the amount of influence they have and it's largely stealth. You can't expect a congress person to know how orbital mechanics works to vote on the best space program and understand how nuclear fission works so he can vote on proliferation issues and understand wind currents to vote on NOAA issues.

But, we all run around universally like, "omg lobbyists suck" and if we were all polled "would you wave a wand and remove lobyists from the system" I'm betting it'd be something stupid like 90%+ saying take them out. Baby out with the bath water.

Dealerships are the same thing. We obviously need robust servicing networks, etc. It's the system that is broken as these are laws meant to protect small businesses that have given birth to a completely different multi-billion dollar industry held by few massive companies. It's not that we need these institutions to disapear, we need to overhaul the regulation that keeps the obviously terrible outcomes entrenched.

For me the answer is simple, deregulate sales and service while implementing simple regulations on right to repair. Take it out of the special interest middle man who is providing us no value, do not put it back in the hands of obvious big businesses who will just switch the margins to themselves, actually solve the problem.

Automakers make autos and parts, everyone can get their cars serviced, customers save money, more small businesses exist and the automaker remains unharmed.

My 2 cents.

 

[The Other Tom]

I've read a couple of books chronicling Elon's business practices (Tesla, SpaceX) and broadly speaking he sets out to streamline an industry and cut out the middleman. Dealerships are the middlemen.
IMO, we need a place to look at a car, talk to a knowledgeable person about a car, and order one. That place should also have a reputable service center, although EVs don't need much service.

 

[Smallblock]

Are lobbyists really there to educate Congress persons or are they actually there to attempt to persuade the Congress persons to vote in the interests of those the lobbyists work for? An doesn’t that process often include promises of campaign contribution?

 

[EV Fan]

Are lobbyists really there to educate Congress persons or are they actually there to attempt to persuade the Congress persons to vote in the interests of those the lobbyists work for? An doesn’t that process often include promises of campaign contribution?

Yes.

 

[RacerX00]

Exactly, they've been screwing your interests for so long you can't imagine a good use for them. Similar to dealerships 😁

Or did you really think Marjorie Taylor Greene and Alexandra Ocasio Coretez know or should know the intracacies of the cattle ranching in Utah and how BLM should manage how they graze? It doesn't have to be hard science stuff. There's a lot. More than any single human can know beyond even 1-2 issues and it'd be unreasonable to ask them to know.

Are they there to educate them? No, they're there because they make an assload of money for doing practically nothing to gain influence for their clients as you say. But we tolerate that behavior because the function of education is needed despite the cancer it actually is.

It's a digression to make a point so let's talk about dealerships 🤷‍♂️

 

[Smallblock]

Exactly, they've been screwing your interests for so long you can't imagine a good use for them. Similar to dealerships 😁

Or did you really think Marjorie Taylor Greene and Alexandra Ocasio Coretez know or should know the intracacies of the cattle ranching in Utah and how BLM should manage how they graze? It doesn't have to be hard science stuff. There's a lot. More than any single human can know beyond even 1-2 issues and it'd be unreasonable to ask them to know.

Are they there to educate them? No, they're there because they make an assload of money for doing practically nothing to gain influence for their clients as you say. But we tolerate that behavior because the function of education is needed despite the cancer it actually is.

It's a digression to make a point so let's talk about dealerships 🤷‍♂️

Sorry, I must have misunderstood your post I was replying to. It seemed to me you were defending lobbyists by claiming that they simply educating our representative.

 

[Smallblock]

Yes.

Yeah, I know, just wondered if Racer did.