EVwire brief: EV Auto has become one of the first non-franchise dealerships to sell cars on Amazon Autos, which means customers can now buy a used Tesla, or a Rivian, Ford, or Chevy for that matter, straight from the EV retailer on Amazon.
Every dealer on Amazon's car marketplace so far has been a franchise, so EV Auto, an independent used-EV specialist, is a first for the platform. CEO and co-founder Alex Lawrence framed the move as a natural fit in comments to EVwire.com:
"Amazon built the most trusted shopping experience on the planet. EV Auto has built the most trusted EV buying experience in America. So it just makes sense that we'd be their first used electric car dealership on the platform."
Here's Alex Lawrence's announcement on LinkedIn:
In his public announcement, Lawrence leaned into the Tesla angle, calling Tesla "the King" of the lineup, while noting that EV Auto also stocks Rivian, Ford, and Chevy, and even plug-in hybrids down the line. For Lawrence, Amazon is one more storefront in a deliberately everywhere-at-once approach to selling.
"We just want to be wherever our customers want to buy from us. Whether that's a live sale on TikTok, in person at a dealership or online at our website, Amazon Autos is another step towards that."
His pitch is straightforward: people already buy nearly everything on Amazon, so why not their next used EV. He also tied the milestone to the long build behind it.
"Being the first used EV dealer on Amazon Autos is a really big deal. And it's because of the type of business the team has spent thousands of hours building over the last five years. This is a big moment for EV Auto."
EV Auto runs three stores today, though more are planned to be opened in the coming months.
Context:
Amazon Autos launched in late 2024, letting shoppers handle a car purchase through Amazon and then pick the vehicle up, or have it delivered, from a local dealer. It began with new Hyundais sold through franchised dealers and has since added used and certified pre-owned inventory and more brands, but every participating dealer until now has been a franchise.
That is what makes EV Auto's arrival stand out. Franchise dealers operate under manufacturer agreements that independent used dealers don't, so Amazon set specific requirements to bring one on, and Lawrence has described the onboarding as a roughly six-month process that made EV Auto the platform's used-car test case.
A good number of EV Auto’s inventory are Tesla vehicles like the Model 3
EV Auto's full inventory will be available on Amazon Autos, with the choice to ship a vehicle nationwide or collect it at one of the retailer's stores. When a car sells, EV Auto gets an alert and follows up with the buyer by phone, the same handoff as any other sale, Lawrence told Auto Remarketing, and a chance to add extras like a home charger or extended warranty.
Amazon charges a per-store fee and takes a cut of those back-end products, but none of the front-end profit on the car itself.
EV Auto, the flagship of parent company The EV Group, runs three stores today, two in Utah and one in the Nashville area, and has bought property for a Las Vegas location, with a Dallas store planned around the turn of the year.
The Amazon debut also lands the same week EV Auto became the first non-Tesla dealer to host Tesla Superchargers at its stores.
Source: Alex Lawrence, in comments to EVwire
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