Let Exelon Haggle With Your Car Dealer

The electricity-giant Exelon is ready to step in between you and your car dealer to get you a better deal on a new vehicle, as long as the vehicle is electric.
"We're not selling cars per se, but we're going to get you as close to a car as we possibly can," said Caroline Quazzo, a manager at EZ-EV, an Exelon-owned and incubated startup. "Obviously the dealer has to close the loop, but we can make it as easy as possible."
An energy generation company, Exelon owns ComEd and five other utilities. EZ-EV offers utilities, including non-Exelon utilities, software and services to serve as a clearing house for information on electric vehicles, giving potential buyers a trusted source for the guidance that can overcome the four lingering obstacles to EV adoption.
"When we work with utilities we will also develop relationships with car dealers in local areas, so we will source deals specifically for customers of ComEd or the local utility," Quazzo said last week at the Smart Cities Symposium in Chicago. "Once you've gone through the customer journey and you get to the point that you've identified the vehicle you would like or that fits your lifestyle—say it's a Nissan Leaf, then we can say 'Okay here are three Nissan Leaf dealers in your area, and here are great deals that they are offering on specific vehicles or models.'"
EZ-EV also offers to set up a local call-center to field questions about electric vehicles, blog posts and videos to educate consumers, and local events that promote EVs.
Many utilities see electric vehicles as one fix for the "death spiral" they feared a few years ago when the prospect of distributed energy started to make a centralized grid look obsolete. Electric vehicles will need electricity, they reckon, and infrastructure to deliver it—two things utilities can provide.
But some powerful forces oppose the adoption of EVs, including some oil companies and the current president of the United States, so utilities are looking for leverage to ensure that electric vehicles flourish.
"Electrification is really crucial to the ecosystem of the utility," Quazzo said. "Depending on where in the country you are, electric vehicles can add anywhere from $200-$400 per year per vehicle to a utility. So again, every new EV on the road is money to the utility."