Canadian Electric-Car Dealership Awards Honor Sales Success Stories

With car dealers often viewed as an impediment to successful sales of plug-in electric cars, recognizing dealerships that embrace and promote plug-in cars is crucial to changing hearts and minds.

Earlier this week, the winners of Canada's second-annual Electric Vehicle Dealership Awards were announced at the EV2015VÉ Conference and Trade Show in the province of Nova Scotia.

The awards were handed out by the Canadian Electricity Association and Plug'n Drive, an electric car advocacy group.

DON'T MISS: A Third Of This Dealer's Sales Are Chevy Volt Electric Cars: How'd They Do It? (Nov 2014)

Sponsors included the Canadian Automobile Association and Electric Mobility Canada, the country's national electric transportation organization.

(U.S. readers may also be interested in Plug'n'Drive's guide to enabling electric-car charging in condominiums, which includes a checklist (pp 22-23) for apartment-dwellers looking to go fossil-free.)

Last year's winner, Bourgeois Chevrolet in Quebec, became a repeat winner of 2015's Leading Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Dealership Award.

A dip in its plug-in hybrid sales from roughly one-third to one-fifth of dealership volume in recent months can likely be explained by limited inventory (due to the imminent changeover to the second-generation Volt).

ALSO SEE: Rewarding Dealers Who Sell Electric Cars: Connecticut Takes The Lead (May 2014)

Lower gas prices likely also contributed, which may--paradoxically--indicate that electric vehicles are already "crossing the chasm" that separates price-insensitive early adopters from more mainstream early-majority buyers who prioritize financial pragmatism.

The decision by Bourgeois management to train its entire sales team in selling of electric vehicles is no doubt key to its continuing success.

Multi-day test drives given to prospective customers probably help, as do the 21 separate 240-Volt Level 2 charging stations that dot the dealership – bringing to mind the "Great Wall of Chargers" at Tesla's Fremont factory.