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Dealers have been investing a lot of time and money into their electric vehicle infrastructure and developing innovative ways of reaching consumers. A notable case is Arnold Clark. Its most recent innovation is its ‘Electric Car Centre’ in Sydenham in South London, which opened prior to the extension of the London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) scheme. Perfect timing as more consumers rushed to dispose of older cars that did not meet the emission rules.
The Sydenham business, open seven days a week, has room for 30 all-makes electric vehicles on-site available to test-drive and buy. It also serves as a Click and Collect location. Another Electric Car Centre opened in Altrincham.
Arnold Clark already has Innovation Centres in Glasgow and Stafford. The new centre is a hybrid model of a typical car showroom and the Innovation Centres. Innovation Centres are solely focused on educating customers and are non-selling sites. At the Electric Car Centres, customers can still learn more about EVs, however, there are also the EVs on-site to purchase.
On the infrastructure front Arnold Clark is to install over 500 electric vehicle chargers across the UK in an investment worth £23m. Arnold Clark customers will have access to the ‘Arnold Clark Charge’ network, which will be available to book safely and securely on a 24/7 basis. Eight rapid chargers, with the ability to charge up to 150kW, will be installed at larger Arnold Clark branches, with four to six rapid chargers installed at smaller branches.
“It will probably make us one of the largest independent charging infrastructural suppliers in the UK when we have the network fully installed by the end of the year,” Arnold Clark CEO Eddie Hawthorne.
The group is also gaining more control over its charging business with the purchase of Scottish-based electric vehicle charge point installer, Bumblebee. Hawthorne said the deal would help its customers who buy EVs.
“We want to help our customers buy an electric vehicle, but we also want to help them to understand what owning, charging and driving an electric vehicle is all about. Bumblebee is part of that strategy and we’re going to be supplying customers with our own EV chargers. We have some great products coming from Bumblebee, including the world’s first modular EV charging point.”
To push EV sales and overcome resistance, it launched a campaign where if a customer buys a pre-registered or used electric vehicle at Arnold Clark, they will get a free home charger and installation worth £929. Bumblebee will install the charger.
The group has also benefited from taking on the BYD franchise. BYD has been described as the biggest car brand in the UK that no one has heard about. That is about to change with a big budget launch.
The group will open a new retail space dedicated to BYD in Glasgow early 2023. This will be used as a base before expanding out with further locations as volumes rise.
Gary Murphy, franchise manager of BYD, said: ‘With more and more motorists choosing to go electric, BYD’s expansion in the UK comes at a crucial time.”