FLD President Gary Mott and our intrepid observer FLD Frank dropped in to Austin for this year’s NVLA conference, where conversation was dominated by – you guessed it – EV’s and all things electric. Check out what they learned in our Frankly Speaking report.
FRANK AT THE 2023 nvla conference
Our roving observer Frank joined FLD President Gary Mott at this year‘s NVLA
conference in Austin and as usual has all the scoop!
- This year’s conference themed “On the Road Again” was extremely well attended with great buzz (if I were to guess, I’d say there were at least 200 people in attendance – a solid showing for this great organization.)
- As with most of the trade shows and conferences I’ve attended since the 2022 NTEA Work Truck Show, EVs and all things electric dominated the conversation both during presentations and amongst show attendees (and I think it’s going to continue to that way at most of the conferences TeamFLD attends over the foreseeable future.)
- This year’s keynote by Stewart Stropp of XXXXX took a serious look at the “rise” of EVs and how they are affecting leasing, and so captivated attendees that they frequently interrupted his address to ask questions.
- While interest in EVs was high, enthusiasm was not, with many attendees likening the whole phenomenon to a “house of cards.” Concerns included:
- how local lessors would make money in the face of falling EV prices
- how can lessors participate in lucrative subscription fees when they all go to OEM’s
- the feeling that there’s not enough commercial inventory to choose from
- the fact that the majority of available inventory are mostly premium models
- fears around how lessors will make money when EV inventories run low
- Echoing attendee sentiment, Stropp compared the unbridled enthusiasm for EVs as being akin to the “big short” phenomenon that toppled America’s residential real estate market for a decade beginning in 2008.
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At FLD, we know our clients, partners and friends can’t attend every trade show or fleet event, so we like to keep them in the know by sharing insights and perspective gleaned by our expert staff, and our roving observer — “Frank” — who’s always got his ear to the ground and his eyes focused on what’s coming next!