A car dealer partnership works when it is built around one moment: the buyer collects the car, and home charging is the unfinished part of the sale. The dealer wants that problem solved without becoming an installer; you want the introduction while the need is live. The partnership holds when the handover, the quoting route and the fault process are agreed in writing first — and proven at one dealership, on your own records, before it is scaled.
Key Takeaways
- The partnership is built around the handover moment — everything else serves it.
- Six clauses carry the arrangement: handover, quoting, response promises, branding, fault route, exit.
- Pilot at one dealership and judge it on your own referral log.
- Fit hardware to the cars the dealer actually sells, with certification files ready.
What Each Side Actually Brings
The dealer brings the buyer at the moment of need, the showroom conversation and the trust the buyer already has in the seller. You bring the survey, the hardware supply route, the installation and the aftercare. Keep the roles separate: the dealer’s own lot and service-bay charging is the dealer’s project — EV charging for car dealerships covers that side — while this partnership is about the dealer’s customers, in their homes. Neither side promises the other’s part.
The Agreement Anatomy
| Part of the agreement | Settle this | Why it breaks without it |
|---|---|---|
| The handover | Exactly when your name is passed on — at sale, at collection, or in the delivery pack — always with the buyer’s consent | Casual introductions reach you late, garbled, or not at all |
| Who quotes | You survey and quote the installation; the hardware route — dealer-supplied, you-supplied or customer-bought — is named | A price hinted at in the showroom becomes your problem to honour or unpick |
| Response promises | The contact and survey times you set yourself, sized to your real diary | A promise the dealer invents on your behalf fails in your name |
| Branding boundaries | Whose paperwork, vehicle and guarantee the customer sees; neither side implies the car maker endorses the installer | Confused customers call the wrong business when something faults |
| A fault after install | The first-call route: unit fault versus installation fault, and who tells the customer what, in which order | Each side assumes the other answered, and the customer waits |
| Review and exit | A pilot review date, and how either side ends the arrangement | A drifting partnership satisfies nobody and is hard to leave politely |
Run It as a Pilot, Not a Marriage
Start with one dealership and a defined period. Keep your own log from the first introduction: referrals received, surveys booked, installs completed, callbacks raised. At the review, judge the partnership against that log — not against showroom impressions or one good week. Extend it, repair the clause that failed, or end it, on evidence. The log protects you in the conversation too: a dealer who can see your response record has a reason to keep sending buyers, and you can see exactly what the channel is worth.
Hardware That Fits the Handover
Align what you fit with the cars the dealer sells and the questions buyers ask at collection. Handover-friendly stock is portable and quick to put into service: the EV-ACS4005T (40 A NACS portable, adjustable 16/24/32/40 A, IP66) and the EV-AC04001U (40 A J1772 portable, 9.6 kW, 25 ft cable, IP66) cover the two inlet families a buyer is most likely to drive home. For supply-and-install buyers who want a fixed unit, the EV-ACT5006T wall charger (up to 48 A, NACS, ETL/FCC/CE) is the documentable option — keep each model’s certification file ready, because a dealer will ask before its staff recommend you twice. EVDANCE supplies trade buyers through its distributor program; shortlist from the product range and align your stock with a dealer’s model mix via contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the dealer pay the installer, or the other way round?
Both structures exist in practice, and neither is a standard you can assume. Whatever money moves — in either direction, per introduction or per completed job — the amount and the trigger belong in your written agreement, settled before the first referral, not after the fiftieth.
Should I sign an exclusive deal with one dealer?
Exclusivity raises the stakes of the pilot, so let the pilot come first. Sign exclusivity only with the expected volume, the review point and the exit written in — otherwise you have traded away your other channels for an unmeasurable promise.
What if showroom staff promise fitting dates I cannot meet?
That is the response-promises clause failing, and it is fixed in the agreement, not on the showroom floor. Restate the times you set yourself, in writing, and give the dealer a simple line their staff can use instead.
Related Reading
- EV Charging for Car Dealerships: What to Install and Why
- How to Find EV Charger Distributors and Installers to Sell To
- Smart vs Non-Smart EV Chargers: What Installers Actually Want
- How to Become an EV Charger Installer (and Get Certified)
