National Drive Electric Day 2015, Texas Style!

I’m sitting on my couch this Sunday, thinking about the great gathering of EVers (and the EV-curious) at the National Drive Electric Day 2015 event held at Grapevine Mills Mall. There was a lot for me to celebrate this year, from being awarded the General Motors Mark of Excellence in my first year of auto sales, getting to be at the unveiling of the redesigned Chevy Volt and all-new Bolt back in January, test-driving a Tesla Model S P85D, the change in Texas law that will now allow me to have solar panels installed on our home, and more.

But this is a high note that stands out. This year’s event was so much better than last year’s. We had the cooperation of charger companies, car dealerships, EV enthusiast organizations and government agencies. Instead of several separate events, this year we all pulled together to create and promote a unified event where people could come to celebrate OR learn about electric vehicles. And many did, including 116 EV owners and their vehicles…and this was on a rare rainy Texas day!

EV owners showed up in large numbers this year (116) and were there to tell anyone who would listen about their experience. I saw BMW i3’s and i8’s, Fisker Karmas, Chevy Volts, Tesla Model S’s and Roadsters, Nissan Leafs (Leaves???), Cadillac ELRs and even a Mitsubishi iMiEV! I even met a guy who is one of the first of the 45,000+ on the waiting list to buy an Elio (non-EV).

I saw at least eight of my Volt customers there and found it so gratifying that they were not only talking about their EVs, they were talking about their purchase and service experiences as well. I overheard several people specifically tell potential buyers that if someone was looking for a Volt, that they should come to Classic Chevrolet, due to our deep understanding of the car, on both the pre-sales and post-sales sides of the business. I heard our Service Advisor (and fellow Volt owner) Tim Foote praised highly by his clients. And yes, although seemingly self-serving here, I have to say I heard several say I was a great person from whom to get an EV. My dealership gave away several door prizes, including a weekend with a 2015 Chevy Volt, which was won by a guy named Christopher.

I heard horror stories as well. People who bought their EV on a used car lot, unassociated with a dealer who sells the new product, were told outright lies or were told, “I don’t know” way too many times One of these stories appears to be headed to litigation… This really brought my posts about all-too-often poor EV sales experiences and how to improve the EV sales experience home.

I saw Pedro Alicea, a fellow EV enthusiast, who sells at a BMW dealership and supplied this blog with an i3 to review and Nissan had dealership representation as well. Not all dealerships get it, but this year, it’s obvious which ones do. I also finally got to see the new eVgo Freedom charging stations at Grapevine Mills Mall. Hopefully, the next generation of EV buyers will have better experience, through the guidance of those of us who have blazed the trail.

I can’t wait for next year’s event!!!