Local dealers not seeing green movement

Rena Picou Trevathan
July 12, 2011
Jeanne R. Lefort
July 14, 2011
Rena Picou Trevathan
July 12, 2011
Jeanne R. Lefort
July 14, 2011

With oil prices not likely to drastically dip anytime soon, drivers across the country continue to have a love-hate relationship with the gas pumps.

Make no mistake about it, gas is still king around these parts. Buying trends show it will remain that way for a long time.


With electric cars beginning to sit in car lots across the country, the Tri-parish area does not appear to be giving into the “green” initiative in the automobile industry.


“I’m not predicting, nor expecting to see a huge influx of these cars here locally,” Golden Motors sales manager David Boudreaux said.

The biggest reason why Boudreaux and other salesmen believe gas still reigns supreme in the eyes of local buyers is simple: cost.


Chevy’s electric model, the Volt, carries a hefty sticker price of $41,000.


Its rival, the Nissan Leaf sits in car lots with a $32,780 price tag.

Ford’s electric contender, the Ford Focus Electric is in between the two with approximately a $36,000 sticker.


Competing gasoline models like the Ford Focus, the Ford Fusion and the Chevy Cruze can be had for $15,000-$20,000 and carry above-average gas mileage.


To close that gap and to push a country-wide clean energy initiative, the government offers an $8,000 tax credit to anyone who purchases an electric vehicle.

But locally, it still hasn’t helped lift sales.


“Price is a big issue to overcome,” Boudreaux said. “When you have that opening price on a car at 40 grand, that’s hard for a lot of people to overcome. A lot of people never look past that first number.”


Because of that, some dealerships haven’t even made an effort to sell the cars.

Golden Motors is one of those places and will receive their first Volts in November.

“Our market here hasn’t been opened up yet,” Boudreaux said. “We’re currently in the process of training and the facilities have to get charging stations and all of that stuff put up.”

Supporters of electric cars are quick to point out the fact that with these new-fangled devices, one never has to tank up, nor change their oil again, which drives a vehicle’s cost down in the long haul.

But that may not fully be the case.

In green-hungry states like California, charging stations exists where electric car owners can “tank up” their electric automobiles.

Locally, such a market is in the infancy stages, so no such charge stations exist. Because of that, in order to purchase an electric vehicle, a buyer would be well-suited to also purchase a home charger which tacks another hefty cost onto the bill.

“An initial investment, with the charger, you’re probably looking at another couple of grand,” Boudreaux said.

With a charging station sapping energy within a home’s power source, homes should also expect a larger monthly electricity bill.

“There are tax incentives that will help also help overcome the costs associated with the charger, as well,” Boudreaux said.

Another reason why the cars may struggle to get traction locally is our area’s rich oil and gas industry. Just more than a year removed from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and the following moratorium on deepwater offshore drilling, many workers are feeling a renewed sense of pride in our area’s largest local industry and are thus fighting off the green energy movement.

“Where we live adds to it, too,” Boudreaux said. “That’s certainly a part of it. People will invest in the industries they work in, certainly.”

Whatever the reason may be, the message remains fairly consistent: the Tri-parishes don’t appear ready to go green just yet.

“We don’t expect the Cruze to be one of our higher selling cars when the new models come out,” Boudreaux said.