Online wholesale EV auction platform Plug wants to work with brick-and-mortar wholesale auctions to offer more services to its consignor customers. It has already partnered with one auction and looks to aggressively add more.

“We have found as we try to grow our footprint in commercial consignors that sometimes they need real estate to be part of the service,” Plug founder and CEO Jimmy Douglas told Auto Remarketing. For example, Plug’s customers include auto manufacturers and lenders who have electric vehicles coming off lease. They want to list the vehicles on Plug but the EVs have to be stored somewhere.

But Plug has “no aspirations to accumulate real estate,” said Douglas.

Meanwhile, independent auctions have real estate, are fast and efficient at receiving vehicles, have parking, charging, secure storage, condition reporting, and can wash and vacuum the EVs.

Plug handles the commercial consignor relationship, the sale, and everything after the sale including the title reassignment, the transfer of funds and everything related to arbitration, said Douglas.

“So, it’s a match made in heaven,” he said.

Norwalk + Plug

Plug’s first independent auction partner is Norwalk Auto Auction in Norwalk, Calif., in southeast Los Angeles County.

The auction was already selling used EVs and had already installed charging infrastructure, said Bill Corbett, business development manager at Norwalk Auto Auction.

For Plug EVs, Norwalk stocks them, does a condition report, and determines if anything needs to be repaired or replaced.

Once an EV is approved for listing, if the battery charge is below a certain amount, Norwalk tops it off then posts studio photos. Plug can pull and post those photos.

When Plug sells the vehicle, it sends Norwalk a release and the customer sends a transporter to pick up the EV.

The sales started in February. Demand is “surprisingly strong,” said Corbett.

Consistent condition reports crucial

Marketing the EV through a consistent condition report is the key to finding buyers easily, said Corbett.

“We have found if you market the vehicle correctly through the condition report and the photos, the buyers will come, if you are consistent about your condition reports,” said Corbett.

Norwalk asked Plug what conditions to focus on in the reports, he added.

Nationwide reach

The majority of the EVs at Norwalk are sold to out-of-state buyers, said Corbett.

EV buyers are “very aggressive when they find the EVs they want,” said Douglas. The average out-of-state move for any sale is 800 miles.

Half of Plug’s total sales go to buyers outside of California, where Plug is based, he said.

Working with independent auctions benefits the auctions and Plug by allowing them to tap into relationships with nationwide consignors because of Plug’s EV-specific approach, said Douglas.

For Plug, Norwalk’s online presence allows it to offer sales and service to dealers and buyers nationwide, which helps Plug expand its reach, said Corbett.

“That’s why Jimmy was interested in working with us,” he said.

Surge of used EVs coming

At Manheim auctions, there were more than 21,000 EVs sold during the second quarter of this year, up 108% compared to the same quarter in 2024, according to Cox Automotive.

EVs accounted for 2.1% of Manheim sales in Q2, up from 1% a year ago.

That growth is only the beginning.

A wave of EV lease returns is “heading towards us,” said Douglas. Meanwhile, EV residual values “are the worst performing asset class in automotive.”

Commercial consignors need to work with Plug because of its EV specialization, he said.

They need to get those EVs off the books as quickly as possible, said Douglas, and “real estate should only be used in certain situations.”

But “you don’t always have the luxury of removing a vehicle from your balance sheet the same day you receive it,” he said.

There could be title issues, reconditioning or safety repair work needed. Or the timing in the market isn’t right, due to seasonality or macroeconomic/geopolitical factors, he said.

In those instances, Plug aims to offer a growing network of independent auctions that can help.

Its goal is to sign eight as partners this year, but Douglas said there is “no limit” to the number Plug would like to eventually have a relationship with.

“We have other partners we are actively negotiating with,” he said. “It is a mix of independent auctions and nationwide operators who have multiple locations.”