By Gary S. Vasilash

U.S. dealers are not particularly keen on electric vehicles (EVs).

So indicates the Cox Automotive Dealer Sentiment Index (CADSI) released this year.

When asked how EV sales were doing in Q1, the index score was 42. That’s off from 50 in Q1 in 2023.

And while 42 may not be particularly meaningful, know that it is the lowest score since the question was included in CADSI in Q2 2021.

The outlook among dealers regarding EV sales going forward isn’t good, either.

In Q1 2023 the index score was 53. Back then, a majority of dealers saw EV sales growing.

In Q1 2024 that index score is down to 36.

That’s the lowest score for EV outlook since that question was asked.

Seems things are no longer anticipated to be growing for EVs.

It seems as though this is not simply a U.S. phenomenon, either.

While Cox was looking at new vehicle sales, over in the U.K. and outfit that specializes in used vehicles—going from consumers to dealers rather than the more conventional vice-versa—found that sales are not particularly robust.

Compared with last year, HonkHonk found 38.5% of dealers are “much less interested” in EVs and 12.3% are “a bit less interested.”

Or 50.8% of dealers are not all that keen on putting EVs in stock.

Sebastien Duval, CEO of HonkHonk, said, “Right now, dealers can’t get enough small or medium petrol cars, medium diesels and even hybrids, since the market began recovering in 2024. But less than one in ten of them want to snap up a battery EV car more than they did than a year ago.”

That’s right: Diesels are more appealing than EVs in the U.K. used market.

Diesels.