Colorado car dealer group opens EV, hybrid outlet and sees sales boost

Phil Extended EV Outlet offered 117 electric powered and hybrid automobiles from May perhaps 2021 by means of year’s stop and 56 this kind of automobiles during the to start with a few months of 2022. It can be just a compact fraction of the firm’s whole revenue. Phil Extensive Dealerships of Colorado Springs ranks No. 95 on Automotive News‘ checklist of the prime 150 dealership groups based mostly in the U.S., with retail sales of 10,801 new autos in 2021. The team sold 12,070 utilized vehicles final yr.

Buckles explained Phil Extended EV Outlet is not only a one-end store for prospects looking for EVs it also has turn out to be a spot exactly where EV drivers can recharge their vehicles for 20 cents a kilowatt-hour. The great deal has 10 EV chargers, which include four speedy chargers.

Within the store, individuals clients — some who obtain the chargers by using navigation programs and hop off nearby I-25 — can get a consume and unwind, Buckles and Shaughnessy stated.

“We created it distinct than a common used-car dealership,” Shaughnessy mentioned. “It is really crafted far more like a neighborhood lounge. It truly is intended to be a place exactly where clients can park their automobiles, demand them [and] dangle out.”

The retail outlet last month held an Earth Working day-centered party that Phil Prolonged leaders planned to give group users exam drives in EVs and extra data about charging. The aim was that more facts and exposure to EVs could ultimately drive shopper visitors to the keep.

Buckles, who also oversees a close by Kia dealership for the group, said Phil Prolonged EV Outlet has 3 sales experts and a gross sales manager. Support is accessible at the Kia dealership, he mentioned.

Shaughnessy explained he thinks the EV outlet is unusual. “We may well be the idea of the spear on this,” he stated.