Official Dealer Stock Thread - Who Has Uncommitted Inventory on Their Lot?

[SeanNelson]

Fremont Chevrolet has 40+ on the lot and 90+ in transit right now. The #1 dealer by volume ... and they have the lowest prices around.

Cause, let me introduce you to Effect.

 

[scbolt]

I don't live in California but visiting the Bay Area this week, so decided to give the Bolt a test drive. I was looking for the option to have the car shipped to my state (CO) but after the test drive, the sales person spoke to his sales director and was told that they are not allowed to sell the Bolt to anyone who can't show resident status in California.

Anyone ran into this? More importantly, was anyone here actually able to buy a Bolt from CA and ship to CO?

 

[DucRider]

I don't live in California but visiting the Bay Area this week, so decided to give the Bolt a test drive. I was looking for the option to have the car shipped to my state (CO) but after the test drive, the sales person spoke to his sales director and was told that they are not allowed to sell the Bolt to anyone who can't show resident status in California.

Anyone ran into this? More importantly, was anyone here actually able to buy a Bolt from CA and ship to CO?

That has come up in other forums.

The official reason (and it has validity) is the lack of service availability. There have been reports of some issues with new Bolts (A/C, rear view camera mirror, etc.). Shipping it back to CA for service is not an option, so do you let the car sit until a local dealer gets the equipment to service the vehicle and is trained and authorized to service it?

Spark EV sales were always restricted as well (Vancouver, WA residents could not purchase one when they lived right across the river from an authorized dealer in Portland).

ZEV credits also play a small part, but the Bolt will be sold outside of ZEV states in the very near future, so I don't see that as being a big factor.

 

[NeilBlanchard]

Apparently, Quirk Chevrolet in Quincy, MA has both model Bolt EV's available for test drives.

 

[reeler]

I special ordered a Bolt in San Diego for export to Colorado. About a month ago, GM issued an edict to stop export. They require you to register and pay taxes in California so that GM will get their CARB credits. The service excuse is just a smoke screen.

GM pays Tesla and others to buy CARB credits and it is quite expensive. Selling in CA/OR saves them a bunch of money. Even though they are rolling out in other states, it is most profitable in those states that have CARB regulations.

 

[DucRider]

I special ordered a Bolt in San Diego for export to Colorado. About a month ago, GM issued an edict to stop export. They require you to register and pay taxes in California so that GM will get their CARB credits. The service excuse is just a smoke screen.

GM pays Tesla and others to buy CARB credits and it is quite expensive. Selling in CA/OR saves them a bunch of money. Even though they are rolling out in other states, it is most profitable in those states that have CARB regulations.

Actually, GM has a surplus of credits and has not been purchasing them from Tesla (or anyone else).
As of Aug 31st, 2016 (last data available)
GM had a credit balance of 23,740
Tesla had a credit balance of 3,530
We know Tesla later sold all their credits in Q3 in order to show a profit to investors ($139M in credits to show a $22M profit for the quarter)
https://electrek.co/2016/10/26/tesl...e-a-profit-of-22-million-shareholders-letter/

ZEV (BEV & AT PZEV) credit transfers recorded between October 1, 2015 and August 31, 2016.

https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/zevprog/zevcredits/2015zevcredits.htm

GM does get ZEV credits for CA/OR sales, and they do have some value, but they have not been active in selling their ZEV credit surplus. They are not desperate for credits and that the few that would be shipped out of state would have very little impact on their ZEV balance. And those vehicles are not "lost" CA/OR sales, they are just time shifted to an earlier date since the Bolt will be available in non-ZEV states shortly.

I think it is mostly a service/territorial issue. I imagine dealers waiting for the Bolt in other states would not be happy to see their customers buying out of state (Vancouver, WA buyers could drive 5 miles to a Portland dealer). And those going to more distant locations may not have service available for 6 months.

 

[NeilBlanchard]

There are 4 or 5 Chevy dealers in eastern Massachusetts, and on in southern NH, that have Bolt EV's in stock, apparently.

 

[user 124]

They [GM] require you to register and pay taxes in California so that GM will get their CARB credits. The service excuse is just a smoke screen.

GM pays Tesla and others to buy CARB credits and it is quite expensive. Selling in CA/OR saves them a bunch of money. Even though they are rolling out in other states, it is most profitable in those states that have CARB regulations.

!!! W R O N G !!! as sourced in the reply above.

Why do people in this forum make stuff up? Alternative Facts do not help people understand the car or its marketing. This is very strange to me; I have been a member of another EV forum for another car (my RAV4 EV) that has considerably higher signal-to-noise. I never saw this kind of unhelpful behavior in that other forum.

 

[EldRick]

Update - Gone!
----------------------------
Wentworth has at least one Black Premiere w/DCFC in stock at the moment.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

They [GM] require you to register and pay taxes in California so that GM will get their CARB credits. The service excuse is just a smoke screen.

GM pays Tesla and others to buy CARB credits and it is quite expensive. Selling in CA/OR saves them a bunch of money. Even though they are rolling out in other states, it is most profitable in those states that have CARB regulations.

!!! W R O N G !!! as sourced in the reply above.

Why do people in this forum make stuff up? Alternative Facts do not help people understand the car or its marketing. This is very strange to me; I have been a member of another EV forum for another car (my RAV4 EV) that has considerably higher signal-to-noise. I never saw this kind of unhelpful behavior in that other forum.

My guess is based on manufacturer reputation.

GM = evil corporation that killed the EV1
Toyota = angelic corporation that gave the world the Prius

But you're right. There are lots of posts here that simply state opinions / guesses as facts.