*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).
The 21st Annual Food Network and Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF), is returning to Miami on February 24 with proceeds to benefit the future leaders of the hospitality industry. Lee Schrager, the founder and director of the festival, and Food Network star Jeff Mauro joined Cheddar News to discuss what ticket holders can expect, how the festival benefits students, and how Mauro will be paying tribute to fellow food celebrity, Guy Fieri, by hosting a charity auction dinner. "I mean there's nobody bigger, nobody more magnetic right now in the food space than Guy," Maura said. "I mean the guy had a Super Bowl commercial on last night. That's a dream of mine, so I'm one step closer there just by doing a tight 20 minutes at his tribute dinner."
Green tech investments had a stellar 2021 amid a wave of SPAC mergers and massive valuations. But that momentum seems to be slowing down as investors turn to safer companies amid tightening monetary policy and skepticism about profitability and reliability amid SEC investigations. What happens next for this next-generation group of startups? Sophie Karp, an equity research analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, joins Closing Bell to discuss.
In late January, NFT company Candy Digital cashed in when a Shohei Ohtani Icon NFT sold for $100,000, breaking the six-figure sale price mark for MLB NFTs for the first time. Scott Lawin, CEO of Candy Digital, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he explains why his company is very excited about the future of digital collectibles and how the Ohtani NFT sale shows consumer confidence in the marketplace.
Sēkr, a mobile app that aims to improve and digitize the outdoor travel experience, announced this week that it raised a $2.25 million seed round. In the Sēkr app, users can get access to more than 50,000 campsites throughout the U.S. including the nation's largest database of free campsites. The company is saying it is on a mission to make every step of the planning experience for outdoor travel easier, safer, and more social. Breanne Acio, co-founder and CEO of Sēkr, and Jess Shisler, co-founder and COO, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
