New EV Adoption Data, Texas Propels Tesla, Service Advisors In The Spotlight

Paul Daly: 0:26Coming in hot on a Thursday we have Liza in this well, not in the studio on the show today and a little surprise at the end of the show. But today we're talking about Evie adoption and some new data, Texas and Tesla, and service advisors really want to long riser. Welcome to the show. Thanks for doing this.

‍Liza Borches: 0:44

Thank you, Tom coming live from the kitchen.

Paul Daly: 0:46

I know if you're not watching, if you're only listening on the podcast, Liza is literally standing in what looks like a commercial kitchen. Because I'll tell the people why you're in this room right now.

Liza Borches: 0:55

So at nine o'clock, we are kicking off our working genius training with all a lot of the leaders of CMA. And we have this large beautiful space right outside this room. But as Paul and I were getting going, Paul, everybody kept coming up on say, Good morning, I was like, this isn't gonna work. So I'm Marshall kitchen, that we'll have our lunch later today.

Paul Daly: 1:14

I love it, we're gonna get a little baking show of soda bakes, is coming in hot with lies, abortions, it's gonna be

Liza Borches: 1:20

amazing. Thank you, by the way.

Paul Daly: 1:22

You can't do everything. It's got to be some kind of, I have my love people more than you love cars shirt on today, I had had to make sure I wear this if you didn't know. And you've seen that around the asoto verse. This is actually lies as these are lies. His words love people more than love cars. I don't remember where I heard you say at first. But I remember saying I'm putting that on a t shirt. And it's become the asoto mantra. And even the TV show that we're doing more than cars is literally just the little rip out of this phrase, right? love people more than cars. And so I have to give you props when you're on the show. Because your thinking and your ability to put it into words kind of like gave us my grounding rod

Liza Borches: 1:59

yet everywhere. Paul, this is what our industry is and needs to be about. So thank you all for exploding it.

Paul Daly: 2:05

Absolutely well, we'll try to do our best and we're not done, we're just getting started. As a matter of fact, we will be in person Liza will be there September 26 27th. At a certain con, this thing is heating up really quickly around the halls of asoto. We're both going full bore, we're about to start announcing our presenting sponsors, and all the partners that are going to be there we have over 1000 rooftops already represented in just half of our speaker list alone. So if you can get out to Baltimore, in September, it's going to be an amazing couple of days, go to a soda con.com and get some tickets, they're still, they're still discounted until September 1 and the price goes up. And if you're coming in, bring a couple of people from your store because you have a fun team there, Paul, let's go. Because if you know if the leader comes back always comes back with some great idea. You know how it is. And I was like, why is this got another idea, right? But it's like four or five people here, you can really use the time to like, plan some first steps and make some real change in your organization. So I realize that thanks for rolling heavy too, because I know people are gonna want to meet your people, because they want they want some more of this in their life.

Liza Borches: 3:09

I think we had seven or eight people there last year. And it was a really great team building time. Definitely were able to implement ideas that we were all able to absorb in one place and have conversations that we don't always get to have in the dealership fighting fires helping customers serving people.

Paul Daly: 3:26

Oh, well, you you're probably one of the people that understands the value of that the best, which is probably why you're doing the event you're doing right outside that kitchen. All right, let's talk about a little bit of news today. So according to new studies by JD Power and Ernst and Young, stated consumer interest in battery electric vehicles is moving forward. Despite the ongoing infrastructure and some safety challenges. The research shows a significant shift in buying intent. So eBay is predicted to capture 27% of auto sales by 2026. And that's what the the data is showing. They showed the the JD Power survey showed that 21% of respondents, however, faced issues charging their Eevee at public stations, while only 3% of Tesla owners reported those issues. Ernst and Young study highlights that 57% of respondents are concerned about the dangers of home charging, particularly fires in garages. So you know, so you have these, this one in one point, you say hey, like buying intent is actually moving forward. It says, you know, a lot more people are considering an Eevee as their next purchase. Meanwhile, it says a lot of people are considered about charging and some safety concerns. Liza, what has been your perspective on the ground, you're in stores, you have a lot of brands, everyone's doing something a little different with EVs and charging and all that. Tell us what you're seeing, you know, on the ground.

Liza Borches: 4:54

Well, it's definitely different market by market. We have some markets that seem to be embracing EVs. is at a much faster rate than others. And a lot of that does tie back to the investment in charging infrastructure within that community, the more rural communities don't have quite the charging stations available, and that is impacting people's decisions. However, we were just meeting just a couple days ago with some of the legislators talking about the infrastructure act infrastructure Act and the inflation Reduction Act and getting a lowdown for our state as an example of the rollout of the money that's coming federally specifically to put charging stations up and down all of the interstates in Virginia. And then we learned what are the secondary roads that are coming the following year, so that we can be having conversations with our consumers about here's the the timeline of the rollout, here's where all of the charging stations are going to be available for Tesla's and non Tesla's and also looking at some of our OEMs that are now partnering, I guess, with Tesla as far as allowing their vehicles to to be able to charge at a Tesla station, there is so much happening around this right now that it's exciting to see that consumers do want to be moving into EVs. We don't have all the solutions yet. But the alternative is to simply say we're just going to keep selling ice vehicles using fossil fuels and not innovate as an industry, right? That's

Unknown: 6:14

not an option. Right? We

Paul Daly: 6:16

got to gotta move somehow,

Liza Borches: 6:17

we got to move somewhere. And we got to keep educating ourselves. And we've got to keep as dealers and retailers being a part of these conversations and giving this feedback 90% of charging happens at home or at work. We're seeing more workplaces investing in putting charging stations, especially larger, larger businesses. So if consumers if you really start talking to them, and they are putting a charging station at home, and then they potentially have one at work that covers them, except for when they're going on road trips.

Paul Daly: 6:46

Yeah, right. That's the only time which is usually a pretty rare occurrence. Well, speaking of charging stations, and roads. Texas is moving forward with a groundbreaking decision to mandate Tesla's technology, charging technology and Evie charging stations in order for people to access the federal funding through the programs you just mentioned. So this move is obviously being closely watched by other states, because they often will look at like a landmark state and follow suit. So this highlights, you know, Tesla's growing influence with their charging stations. So basically, the federal program requires the one that's been the standard, the CCS plug at a minimum, but then allows states to actually add requirements to the funding distribution at a more regional and local level. So basically, Tesla, they've been debating this back and forth. And despite opposition from some charging companies saying the mandate would slow down infrastructure. Texas Commission actually approved the plan unanimously, and they say they're aiming to cover 97% of the states of the state with Evie charging infrastructure. So they are the largest beneficiary of the plan with 5 billion awarded to them. So it sounds like you've been in conversations about, you know, with this federal programs and charging infrastructure, what's the situation like in Virginia? Like, are they mandating any charging or it has that come up in conversation at all,

Liza Borches: 8:15

it has not been a part of the mandates in our state, I think it does address a bigger issue, which is having multiple ways to charge a vehicle is not going to be conducive to moving electric vehicles forward in this in this country. And when we look at all of the different OEMs, and the amount of product we have coming, whether we as dealers or not want to embrace it, that's what is going to be coming on our lot. So we need to be again, a part of this conversation and having one universal way to charge a vehicle is going to be critical in the long term. There's so much politics between Tesla and the non Tesla and the amount of power that Elon Musk has in the space. It's a little bit scary, Paul, exactly more than a little bit scary. I don't have the answer on that. But I know in our state that is not currently part of the mandate. But I do plan as a dealer being a very strong voice in that conversation as it comes to Virginia because we need to be stepping up and making sure that we're not allowing Tesla to become the dominant player and that every everybody else, we're not making this overcomplicated for the type of chargers and the dollars it's going to take to put the right infrastructure in place.

Paul Daly: 9:22

Well, certainly not a simple conversation. And there really isn't a right answer, right? This is one of those things that like, everyone's gonna advocate for their position, and then whatever it is, right, everyone's gonna have to adopt and get along. So if you're a dealer, get involved in the conversation is what I hear you saying, Liza? Yes. All right. Well, we have one special treat we alluded to at the beginning of the show. So as I opened Automotive News This Morning, as I do every morning, I saw on the front page of the digital edition, one of CMAs service managers Carmen hidden Hinton, who was actually featured as a 40 under 40 and lies is like Carmen's right here, let me grab her card. I mean, congratulations first and welcome to the show.

Unknown: 10:03

Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm very

Paul Daly: 10:07

well, okay, so we're just warming you up, because I know you're gonna have a lot more interviews, and then when nada comes around, everyone's gonna want to talk to you. So we're going to try to talk to you now. Give us give us the quick path. How did you end up to be a service advisor? Like, what was your first position in the dealership?

Unknown: 10:23

I started as a receptionist. And then I moved to the accounting office. From accounting, I went to service advisor and

Paul Daly: 10:33

because that's an interesting, that's an interesting path accounting to service advisor, I'm gonna say that

Unknown: 10:37

much energy for the office. She wanted. I can just be and not no offense to the office, you know, they do great job. But I just I was to more people, more people volume, interactive, like she connecting out there with customer Yes. And using hours. Yeah, that's amazing, most comfortable. So it's worked. And I'm very proud to have the opportunity to do so. And Liza has been able to assist with that as well.

Paul Daly: 11:06

So tell me this, what is your what is your very favorite I know it's the people, but like, what gets you most excited as in your job, like, what what situation where you're like, I love that just happened,

Unknown: 11:18

the energy, so the energy that everyone brings to the table. So I like depicting what everyone has to bring to the table. And you know, just making a bigger thing than what they've realized that it is. And when they're excited about what they see that they can do, then I get excited as well, so that we can better serve our customers. So that's what I

Paul Daly: 11:41

enjoy. One more question for you. I, my first position in the auto industry was actually as a service advisor, so I can empathize with some of the things you deal with. And I think every service advisor approaches this differently. But it's probably one of the most important parts of your position, how do you deliver bad news to a customer? How do you what's your approach,

Carmen Hinton: 12:00

you have to be direct, you can't sugarcoat anything. But you also have to have empathy, because obviously, no one wants to have to bring their car into service. So that's the number one thing that you have to be very aware of. And then of course, figuring out a path that works for them, that they could service their vehicle or get them back on the road or we can plan for later or we can take care of this today. How can we make it happen? But I've never felt as if I'm doing something that is bothersome, I'm just helping them get their car back on the road and a lot of people are appreciative of that.

Liza Borches: 12:37

You know, you know our core values and the one of everyone wins. What I see Carmen doing is finding solutions for customers that will help them win in getting on the road in the right budget, making sure that we're we're winning by giving them a safe and reliable car but she lives our core values to a tee.

Paul Daly: 12:55

Yes, yeah, but I bet the smile doesn't hurt either. Sometimes. Well, thank you so much for joining us on the show. It was really a treat to have you ladies join us today. We'll see you both at nada mais and we'll see you in September in a soda con. Now get out of the kitchen and go love people more than you love cars. We'll talk to you soon.

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