Take a deep breath (it may be your last chance…or not)

This is going to seem out of character for me, but hang on.

The New York Times published an article today, entitled “General Motors Sides With Trump in Emissions Fight, Splitting the Industry.” Immediately, people took to Facebook, disgusted with GM over this and my first, knee-jerk reaction was to agree with them. Why, General Motors announced they were going to introduce 20 new electric vehicles by 2023, not that long ago. What’s up with that? They never said those vehicles would be released in the U.S., or that they would be vehicles I could potentially sell (Chevrolet), but it gave me hope.

Now this?

General Motors has announced that Cadillac will become the flagship brand for EVs and I can understand that. I guess. However, I also remember the Cadillac ELR (basically a dressed up, albeit beautiful, Chevy Volt) trying to compete at the same price point as the Tesla Model S.

Bad idea. Very, very bad idea.

They’ve also hinted that there will be a $100K electric pickup, but it looks like it’ll be branded as a GMC. I’ve come to realize my days of having EVs to sell may be coming to an end. My last hope is the last vehicle to be based on the Bolt EV platform has been tentatively been named the Bolt EUV. Doesn’t that have to be a Chevy? Only time will tell… Apparently GM’s Marketing Department thinks all EVs have to have names that rhyme with Bolt and Volt. For those of us with hearing impairments, this nomenclature has been a freaking nightmare.

Anyway, lots of EVs promised, by the company that killed off the greatest hybrid vehicle ever made, the Chevy Volt. Shouldn’t we be seeing some of these new EVs announced by now? Some people are calling BS on GM’s announced plans, due to today’s news. So what do I think?

Believe it or not, I’m guardedly optimistic.

Being the dealership’s “EVangelist,” I’ve experienced, first-hand, the problems caused by the CARB states having different pollution standards and especially by their program of offering ZEV (zero emission vehicle) credits to gasoline vehicle manufacturers, for each electric (or hydrogen fuel cell) vehicle sold in those states. This allowed those companies to sell vehicles propelled by internal combustion engines, as long as they were also selling ZEVs.

This caused very real problems, for me, trying to push plug-in vehicles in the Big Oil state of Texas. Several times I sold completely out of plug-in vehicle inventory, because production was shifted to CARB states, leaving me (and my customers) high and dry. When the Bolt EV was introduced, it wasn’t available in Texas, until it had been selling in California for six months! I had potential buyers who went to California to buy a Bolt EV and have it shipped to Texas. I had angry customers who saw Bolt EV buyers in California posting the prices they paid for their Bolt EV, because I couldn’t come close to the discounts being offered. GM’s incentives in California were thousands of dollars greater than any available to me and my clientele. General Motors was buying ZEV credits with aggressive discounts on their plug-in offerings. The worst case was the total lack of inventory in Texas, just as the Federal Income Tax credit for plug-in vehicles was approaching it first halving. My customers, knowing it was their last chance to get the full $7,500 tax credit, were clamoring for Bolt EVs and there was nothing I could do to fill that demand. I begged my management to acquire Bolt EVs for me to sell, but try as they might, there were none to be had in Texas.

The tipping point in the formation of my opinion on today’s news, was the question asked by a BMW dealership executive, attending a dealer’s meeting in Austin, intended to promote EV sales. After presentations covering automated information kiosks, websites to help potential buyers get answers to their questions, dealership training for sales and management staff and certification programs for dealership personnel to drive buyers to qualified salespeople, he asked, “What good is all this, if I can’t get EVs to sell because they’re all being shipped to California???”

I could feel his frustration, from across the room, because I suffer from it as well.

Many of you have gleaned my political leanings, from my blog posts (not that it’s very hard to ascertain them). I am always amazed that the party of states’ rights, seems to forget that position, whenever a state exercises its rights in a way counter to that party’s wishes.

I get it. Both parties are full of fertilizer. Both are full of hypocrisy. The electorate really doesn’t pay enough attention to call them out on this.

I’m going to hold judgement for now.

Undoubtedly, it would reduce production costs, if there was one air pollution standard for the entire country’s vehicles. I would prefer that the CARB standards become the de facto standard for the country, but I realize the current administration would never go for that. As the Times’ article states, Ford and Honda have pledged to adhere to the CARB standards, but is that just a PR stunt, or are they so dedicated to clean air that they’ll use those standards nationwide? Will GM go back to making vehicles that generate more pollution nationwide? Will they actually introduce 20 new electric vehicles by 2023?

We shall see.

The benefit could be that EVs could become abundant everywhere, not just in the CARB states. Pricing might become more equitable across the country. MY clientele might be able to try out and buy EVs in a much easier manner, going forward. I am hopeful.

But you know me. I’ll be the first to scream bloody murder, if I sense that we’re being fed a line of crap.

Let General Motors know how you feel about this issue. Let your representatives, at all levels of government, know how important clean air is to you and your family. Keep up the good fight, but realize there are dynamics involved here that perhaps none of us fully comprehend.