A new direction for me

If you’ve been reading my blog over the last several months, you may have noticed I went to work for Green Mountain Energy as a salesperson.I sold 100% pollution free electricity to residential customers. I worked in retail locations and special events (Oktoberfest, Willie Nelson Picnic, The State Fair of Texas, Friday on the Green).

It was breaking my heart.

I found that the average consumer does not care about the environmentally friendly aspect of the product (wind generated electricity), but only cares about the price, which is competitive. What really got me, was situations where I could show the potential customer that our price was lower than what they were currently paying, that our product was much better for the planet AND THEY STILL DID NOT MAKE THE SWITCH TO CLEAN ENERGY!!!!!

I just could not understand that and felt it was sapping my soul.

Then something funny happened. I helped out at my Chevy dealer on the Saturday before National Plug-in Day and really enjoyed talking with people about the car I love.

I mentioned to one of the managers that if they thought I would be a fit for Classic Chevrolet, I’d be very interested in working there. It turns out they were thinking along the same lines and asked me to drop by the next day. Whatddya know, I’m going to work at my Chevy dealership as a car salesperson, specializing in the Volt (and later, the Spark EV)!

I am so excited! (and I just can’t hide it…)

They asked me if I wanted “Volt Specialist” as my title on my business cards. At first, I loved the idea, but then remembered we’ll eventually have the Spark EV as well. I thought EV Specialist would be better. Then I asked, “How about EVangelist?”

They loved it!

I also wanted to make sure they had no problem with my blog because I want to continue to share my experiences with all the people who have come to know me over the last year. They were fine with that as well and in fact, put the URL for my blog on my business cards.

It’s odd how one’s life has all these course changes. When I got my Volt, I never thought one day I’d be selling them. I hope I can have a positive impact on the environment, switching people to electric vehicles, that I was not able to achieve, switching people to wind-generated electricity. I truly want my contribution to matter.

Now, I’m asking all you out there:

• What can I do to help spread the word about electric vehicles?
• How can I best get the message out, that these are proven, mainstream vehicles?
• What sort of events would help? Lectures? Q&A sessions? Test-drive marathons? Participation in local parades?

I am seriously wondering about this. The early adopters are going to come in on their own. As a nation, we will reach the tipping point, when the average consumers start adopting EVs. I want to find those people that haven’t considered an EV in the past but are perfect candidates:

• Home owner with a garage or someone that works at a company that has chargers for employee use
• Daily commute of less than 45 miles
• Family size of four or fewer
• Concerned about safety and the environment
• Test drove a Prius or Civic and wants more performance
• Smartphone enthusiast

I’ve always been transparent with you, my subscribers. I will continue to be. I will continue to promote the Volt primarily because I love it, not just because it’s now my job. I just thought you should all know the situation. (and yes, I still lust for a Tesla Model S)

Thank you all for subscribing and I’ll keep writing if you’ll keep reading! (and probably even if you don’t…)