How auto dealers trucked EV makers

Plus better news for the North Spokane corridor, and some recommended reading/listening

It was a cold Thursday in February when electric vehicle makers rolled up to the capitol with the goods. Out on the North Diagonal, a canary-colored cord snaked out the back of a dead-silent Rivian pickup, weaving through the grass to a humming coffee cart. Huddled around the frost-bitten sidewalk, bystanders drank in free views of the new money in EV land heating up their hot cup of joe.

The scene was part of an electric idea from a cadre of EV makers to make their fleets a part of the landscape in Olympia. For years, the two have spun their wheels trying to ink a billion-dollar bargain allowing them to sell their rides themselves—no auto dealership necessary. That privilege is something only Tesla enjoys in the EV market. This was going to be the session where its newest EV rivals got their slice of the pie.

Here’s why you should care about this: Washington is poised to ban the sale of new gas-powered rides from dealer lots by 2035, although Congress has other ideas. EV makers—Rivian, Lucid, etc.—want to forgo the dealership model and the markups that come with it. Green lighting direct-sales in our fair state could put more EVs on the road and shore up competition in a market that needs to grow to meet the state’s climate goals.

Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash