Five Reasons Why Electric Car Sales Fail at the Dealer Level

I visited my local Audi dealer and asked how many of A3 Sportback e-trons they’d sold.  “None,” I was told.  Did they have one in stock?  “No.”  There’s a disconnect here.  The A3 e-tron is a supremely confident plug-in hybrid with an appealing design halfway between hatchback and crossover.  I went to Germany and Austria for a ride-and-drive event, and the company launched it on the American market with high hopes in early 2015.  Critics loved it.  Car and Driver said the car is “a pleasing blend of hybrid and hatchback” with “cachet and power, plus an EPA-rated 83–86 MPGe.”  But it’s not selling.