Riding in an electric car is quite a different experience from riding in a smelly, noisy, low-torque gasmobile, but driving one is a world of difference. As they say, “once you go electric, you…” Well, I guess someone needs to come up with a good ending there that actually rhymes, but the point should be that you won’t want to switch back to gas.
That’s quite well known amongst those who have driven electric cars (golf carts not included, btw). However, only a tiny fraction of people have driven electric cars. To get more California butts into electric cars, “Electric Car Guest Drive” is doing just that.
“Set up by a club called EV Quorum, the idea is to give people an experience of electric cars they may not be able to get at a dealership,” Anthony Ingram of Green Car Reports notes.
This is especially important given how horrible the dealership experience is for many if not most electric car shoppers. “As electric vehicle sales are still relatively low, many dealership sales staff have only limited knowledge of the electrically-powered products they sell,” Anthony adds.
I’ve heard of electric car shoppers having to wait for the show car to be pushed to a charging station and charged up, being given a car with almost no charge in it to test drive, being steered away from the cars to conventional gasmobiles, and much more along those lines. I have a feeling the Electric Car Guest Drive crew isn’t going to do that….
People interested in electric vehicles can head along to a car-club meet-up and experience the cars in a friendly, knowledgeable environment.
As those running the club are all owners, there’s a real choice of cars for people to try out, too–from the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive and Fiat 500E, through mainstream EVs like the Leaf and Volt, to the Tesla Model S.
An electric car for nearly every budget, in other words–and all conveniently in the same location, rather than spread among half a dozen dealerships.
These electric car test drive events are going on throughout May in 12 Californian cities.
For more info, check out the Electric Car Guest Drive website.
Not in any of these Californian cities? Organize some similar events in your own area, whether you’re already an EV owner or not.
Well over100 people attended each of the Electric Car Guest Drive events held in San Diego’s Balboa Park and Carlsbad over last weekend. Between the two locations, more than 25 electric car owners brought their vehicles and offered test drives throughout the afternoon, including the Tesla Model S, Toyota RAV4 EV, Nissan Leaf, Fiat 500e, Chevy Volt and Ford Focus Electric. The informal setting created a perfect environment for people to share stories about their experiences, offer suggestions, and have the opportunity of meeting like-minded folks. Hopefully, more of these events will be offered in the near future.
Awesome! Yes, need more. 😀