Electric vehicles so far come with mostly long-term predictions, speculation, and a mix of hope and hype as America tries to electrify ground transportation.

Europeans are further along in adopting EVs, and while they haven’t perfected the outcomes, their experiences offer insights and value for U.S. remarketers.

One EV advisor in the know, Johan Verbois, managing partner of 5s Consulting in Antwerp, Belgium, will travel to Las Vegas next month to share some insights for his session, "The Realities of Electric Vehicles in Fleets & Remarketing Channels," at the Conference of Automotive Remarketing. Verbois will present on Wednesday, March 29, at 4:15 pm at Caesars Palace.

Although the European EV experience runs ahead of the U.S. with some nations taking up EVs by 80% last year, the remarketing sector has challenges in transitioning to and supporting the used car customer journey, Verbois said.

Verbois will share the just launched European wide accreditation process for suppliers to provide a battery state of health (SOH) by the Car Remarketing Association Europe. He will show through the results of mystery shopping and online retail benchmarks how used electric vehicle customers are not as informed as they should be, leading to lost value in the chain.

“To foster the adoption of BEVs in the second-hand market a clear and transparent communication of the battery conditions is crucial,” Verbois said. “On the one hand to find acceptance of the buyers to purchase a used electric vehicle, and protect the residual values of these cars.”

Electric vehicles give the ability to save costs but need a stronger driver of governance to realize their full potential, Verbois added.

“Besides remarketing, managing EV charging becomes the new key differentiator in determining fleet costs.”

The Conference of Automotive Remarketing, held in partnership with the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance and the National Auto Auction Association, will take place March 28-30.

It includes a full agenda and exhibit hall spanning consignment, auction operations, industry economics and politics, auto transport, electric vehicles, digital technology, automotive recon, professional training, and more.

CAR REGISTRATION HERE