*By Britt Terrell*
For electric vehicles to truly take off with consumers, car dealerships will have to get on board, and manufacturers will have to find ways to competitively price their cars for American drivers.
A new [study](https://electrek.co/2018/05/21/electric-car-adoption-deceptive-car-dealerships-new-study/) about European car-buying in the journal Nature Energy found that car dealers may be hurting the sales and adoption of electric vehicles because salespeople are "dismissive and deceptive."
Brian Deagon, a senior reporter at Investor's Business Daily, said the same is likely true in the United States.
"We're on a slow growth track," Deagon said Wednesday in an interview with Cheddar. "Even though we've heard so much about hybrid vehicles and electric cars, they still represent something like 1 percent of the total cars on the road in the U.S."
Electric cars generally cost more than gas cars. Business Insider [estimates](http://www.businessinsider.com/electric-cars-roadblocks-tax-credit-2018-4?r=UK&IR=T) that the average price ー before subsidies and incentives ー for electric vehicles is around $42,000 compared to $34,000 for the average new car.
Federal and state governments are also beginning to back away from subsidies once granted to companies like Tesla to reduce the price of electric vehicles.
"Here in the state of California, for example, millions and millions have been applied to those subsidies and many consumers have been enticed by these subsidies, saving $7,000 or more," said Deagon. "That's a lot of money."
Car manufacturers will have to find news ways to make electric cars less expensive in the future.
"There is going to be a tremendous amount of familiarization that needs to take place, and it will," said Deagon. "But again, over time, I think people will go into a car lot and go 'Do I get an electric car or a gas car?' and it's going to come down to which one represents the better value for the consumer."
Automakers including Tesla, Ford, GM and BMW are investing billions in electric vehicles, Deagon said. "They'll certainly have the finances to persuade the car dealers at some point to open their doors and promote their cars."
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/electric-vehicles-dealership-dilemma).
A Senate bill unveiled on Wednesday looks to tackleonline safety for children by regulating Big Tech and social media platforms to deter users from content that can harm their mental health. Irene Ly, a policy counsel for the age-based ratings and review organization Common Sense Media, joined Cheddar News to break down the potential of the Kids Online Safety Act. "We can't be imposing such a big burden on parents to be doing it all on theirselves," Ly said. "I think you also have to keep in mind that parents often didn't grow up with social media, so they don't understand what it's like to be addicted to social media or really understand how they work."
While many still remain skeptical about the metaverse, big tech firms and even one big bank are ready to expand their virtual worlds. Facebook parent company has pivoted so hard it will now call its employees 'Metamates,' and even JPMorgan Chase has created its own digital lounge on one virtual platform. While the sector remains young, there seems to be significant investment opportunity, especially with companies like Nvidia. Adam Johnson, a portfolio strategist at Adviser Investments, joins Closing Bell to discuss which companies could win in this space, consumer appetite, and more.
Marc Blinder, Co-Founder and CEO of Aikon, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he discusses how his company is helping businesses use blockchain applications without needing to learn the intricacies of the new technology.
The Federal Reserve minutes from its January meeting are indicating it's sticking to an interest rate hike in March, but what does the report coupled with ongoing inflation mean for investors going forward? Scott Brown, a market strategist at LPL Financial, joined Cheddar News to break down the minutes and talk about how investors might navigate the rest of the year. "it seems like the market is kind of inclined to trade off these headlines, really, through the first half of the year," he said. "And then, oh, don't forget, we've got midterm elections, which always tend to add a little bit of volatility in the second half of the year." Brown noted that the path forward for stock investors in 2022 would be "rockier" than last year.
Season 13 "Shark Tank" contestant Tania Speaks secured a $400,000 deal for her Speaks Organic Skincare brand with "Shark" Mark Cuban while also being named one of the best pitches in the history of the show — all at 19 years old. Now 20, Speaks joined Cheddar News to talk about the skincare line, the clean beauty industry, and the moment that host Cuban was moved by her pitch. "I couldn't believe that he got emotional. I'm surprised I held back my tears that long," the young entrepreneur revealed. "It's just amazing for someone else to be inspired by your story, especially Mark Cuban himself."
The media giant formerly known as ViacomCBS has officially rebranded itself as Paramount Global with a focus on its streaming service, Paramount Plus. Naveen Chopra, chief financial officer at Paramount, joined Cheddar to discuss the company’s name change and streaming wars. "There are components of content licensing that we continue to do, either historical arrangements or opportunities to license content that don't really impinge on what we're trying to do with our owned and operated services and that continues to be an important ingredient in our broader financial model," he said. "But our number one priority is putting our best assets on Paramount Plus." Chopra also discussed theatrical release windows before feature films hit its service and the platform's subscription goals.
The recent 7.5% year-over-year increase in consumer prices is the highest since 1982, and drew some strong reactions from investors, with speculations that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates by 50 points instead of 25. But other analysts believe that the Fed will stick with its original plan of 25 points next month. Chris Vecchio, Senior Analyst, at DailyFX broke down how the Fed could potentially react to the historically high inflation data.
