Here’s the back story on how this all came together: At EarthX, in 2023, a California nonprofit organization put on an amazing EV test drive event. That organization was Charge Across Town. I worked with their team at the event. This year, Charge Across Town received a grant to put on ten EV test drive events across the U.S.. They invited me to participate again, so Texas EV Alliance and Texas Education Project reached out to DFW Clean Cities and North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) to join in the fun, especially since those organizations have been putting National Drive Electric Week gatherings for years and have considerable experience creating great, content-filled events. These are difficult for nonprofits to produce, due to insurance costs, but a grant from Charge Across Town made it possible. We all joined forces and jumped at the opportunity.
You might ask, “Why?”
My focus on “butts in seats” goes back to my years selling PHEVs and BEVs at Classic Chevrolet. from late 2013 to the end of 2019. EV-curious customers had tons of questions and most salespeople at dealerships avoided those customers (and their questions), opting for quicker sales of traditional vehicles. I found that the number of questions were greatly reduced if I started the client off with a test drive. I had a set route and a set script I’d go through on the drive that would reduce the number of questions and increase their interest in electric driving.
This was reinforced when I saw Chris Harto, of Consumer Reports, give a presentation at Electrify Expo 2022. Using extensive driver survey data, it was shown that, in the U.S.:
- If a person has no exposure to EVs, 40% of us say they won’t consider getting an EV, but
- if they see one in their neighborhood, that negative opinion drops to 22%,
- if a friend gets an EV, it drops to 17%,
- if they ride in an EV a few times, it drops to 10%, and
- if they drive one just a few times, it drops to 4%!
That’s a 90% reduction in negative opinion! In other words, “the proof is in the pudding.”
The best way to drive EV adoption is to stop arguing with those whose opinions have been influenced by biased media and give them the experience they need to make an informed decision.
Another reason these groups joined together to put on the test drive was timing:
- The federal EV incentive of $7,500 ends at the end of this month,
- The Texas EV/PHEV Rebate of $2,500 started at the beginning of the month,
- September is “National Drive Electric MONTH” (instead of just a week),
- September is the usual start of Texas’ autumn cool down… or so we thought.
- September 13th was the date scheduled for Arts & Autos in Denton Square. (see video below)
After joining forces, our next task was locating dealerships step who could provide vehicles, salespeople and test drives. This required sacrifice on the part of the dealerships and the salespeople because the event was scheduled for a Saturday, typically the best sales day for the dealerships and their commissioned salespeople.
The dealers that stepped up were:
- Classic Chevrolet*
- Honda of Denton*
- Grubbs Family of Dealerships (Volvo & Polestar)
- Ewing Buick GMC
*Unfortunately, The Chevrolet and Honda dealers sold out of EVs just before the event (good for them!), so they ended up being unable to participate. Still, we appreciate their attempt. Some members of the public had been paying attention to the news about EV incentives and we didn’t realize the rush to buy would be so strong. We definitely learned a lesson there and will recruit more dealers in future events, expecting some won’t make it, due to inventory fluctuations. We ended up with three EVs for the test drives:
- Polestar 2
- GMC Sierra EV (Denali)
- Volvo EX30
I took my red sequined blazer with me, expecting to be in full EVangelist regalia, but the humidity that morning advised against it. The temperature at 6:30AM, when we started putting up canopies and displays, was not bad but it was expected to rise into the mid-90s F. If I had it to do over again, I would have worn shorts…
The event was a great success! We had 300+ people sign up online for test drives. In six hours we provided 100 test drives (sign ups never show up at 100%). One of the dealership salespeople said a customer stated they wanted to buy the specific EV they’d taken on the test drive, once the festival closed for the day. I’m hoping to hear back from the participating salespeople to know if they had other event-inspired sales.
Texas EV want to put on more EV test drives because, as mentioned before, there is no better way to move EV adoption forward that’s quite as effective as “butts in seats.” The cost of insuring the test drive event is expensive, but if dealers are doing the drives, the dealerships’ insurance covers the drives, helping out a lot. Our plan, going forward, is to put on test drive events on weekday afternoons and evenings near clusters of dealerships that sell EVs. The drives would start and end at a central location, but the proximity to the participating dealerships would allow a motivated driver and the salesperson to head to the dealership to close the sale. The dealership could then rotate in another salesperson and vehicle to continue the test drives. My first area to target would be Grapevine, Texas in the center of the DFW metroplex. There are at least 20 dealerships that offer EVs and/or PHEVs within a 2 mile radius and that’s where I sold EVs. There’s a fantastic test drive route that really lets EVs shine.
That’s critical mass.
We’d also like to expand the dealers’ idea of what their business is becoming. Instead of just selling transportation, they can add chargers (especially bi-directional chargers that can power homes or sell energy back to the grid), solar panels, stationary batteries for energy storage and more. The opportunity for drivers to easily recharge, earn income from their vehicles’ stored energy and make their homes’ electricity supply more resilient and dependable will reduce resistance (pun intended) to EVs and give dealerships new profit centers. The dealers could partner with reputable EV charger and solar panel contractors, becoming their primary sales outlet, replacing annoying and ineffective door-to-door or telephone sales with the dealers’ Parts Departments. Fleet Departments could get involved, selling to commercial property owners who could offer employees free charging in exchange for the right to sell some of the energy in their EVs when high grid demand charges kick in. It would be a win-win for both the business and their EV-driving employees!
My favorite part of events like Arts & Autos is talking with the people who just experienced their first EV test drive. They’re always so animated, excited and positive. Here are three interviews of EV newbies Tyler, Stephanie, Jessica and Joshua at the event:
