Woman Drives Her Jeep In For An Oil Change, Drives Out In A Chevy Equinox EV

A short video on TikTok by Ana R shows her driving her red Jeep to a Chevy dealer for an oil change and driving home in a new white Chevy Equinox EV. “Upgraded for a spaceship!” she wrote. That’s the headline EV advocates will want to savor — EVs are gaining ground, despite the full frontal assault against them from the failed administration in Washington,

But if we unpack this very short video, there are even more things we can learn from it. The skeptics among our readers will ask, “Why would someone take a Jeep to a Chevy dealer for an oil change?” That is an excellent question, and we have no answer. Perhaps the dealer was running a special on oil changes that was too good to pass up?

No matter the reason for Ana R driving onto the lot, what happened next is the important part. Someone at the dealership took the time to introduce her to the Equinox EV and got her to take a test drive.

Leveraging The EV Experience

As part of my checkered work career (before I became a world famous writer for CleanTechnica), I was a car salesman at a Saturn dealership. Saturn, you may recall, had a strict “no haggle” sales philosophy. That meant we did not pressure our customers to buy and we didn’t do the back and forth dickering with sales managers behind a desk on a raised platform in the middle of the showroom. So how did we get people to buy a Saturn? We took them on test drives. My store was owned by a man who had a very simple philosophy that went like this — “The feel of the wheel seals the deal.”

Being behind the wheel of a car is an emotional experience. There is a feeling of power and control. There is the quiet thrill of knowing the neighbors will be jealous and the usual gang at work will be envious. There is the joy that comes with giving yourself permission to buy a new car. Have you ever watch The Price Is Right when they announce the next prize is A NEW CAR? The audience goes wild and the contestants look like they just died and went straight to heaven.

Buying a new car is a transformative experience, and if you don’t understand the emotional content involved in the process, you are missing an important piece of the sales process. The first principle of sales is that “people buy on emotion and justify their decision later with facts.” Getting people to test drive is the emotional part. Later, back in the showroom, is where a knowledgeable salesperson supplies the facts that give the customer permission to pick up the pen and sign the sales contract.

Smart Dealer, Smart Sales Representative

First of all, kudos to that unknown salesperson who got Ana R out on a test drive. Second, kudos to the management at the dealership for encouraging that sort of initiative. Right now, the clock is ticking down to September 30, when all federal EV incentives will disappear at the stroke of midnight. (Actually, they still apply if you sign a sales contract before the deadline and take delivery before December 31, thanks to a recent change/clarification.)

What else strikes me as significant about this story has to do with the sales process that most people who have never been in the “game” may not appreciate. In most dealerships, the sales staff utilize what is known as an “up” system. The first person gets the first customer of the day, the second person gets the second customer of the day, and so on. Once the sales process ends with one customer — sale or no sale — the sales representative goes to the back of the line and waits until everyone else has had an “up” before engaging with another customer.

There is a another component to being in sales, something called the closing ratio. Some people make one sale for every three “ups,” while others close only one in ten. Either way, the more “ups” you have, the more sales you make and the more you earn. Woe betide the person who cuts in front and steals an “up” opportunity! People have been taken out behind the service department and beaten with a tire iron for less!

Early EV Sales Blunders

When electric cars first came into the market, many sales representatives wanted nothing to do with them. Why? Because customers needed to be educated about them. What makes them worth the money? How do you charge one? What is regenerative braking? How far can you drive on a charge? Education takes time, more time means fewer “ups,” and fewer “ups” means less jingle in your pocket on payday.

In a fast-paced dealership, the sales staff is used to focusing on only two questions: 1. What monthly payment are you comfortable with? 2. What color do you want? Who has time for all that education? Do you want to buy a car or not?

Dealers Should Learn How To Sell An EV

What is it about an electric car that gets an emotional reaction? Torque. Pure, unadulterated, instant torque, the kind that shoves you back in your seat and puts a grin on your face. EVs do that better than conventional cars. Why? Because people confuse torque with horsepower. Torque is what makes a car quick. Mash the exhilerator and BAM! You’re going 60 miles an hour quicker than most drivers have ever experienced in their lives.

Horsepower makes a car fast, meaning it has a high top speed. Frankly, unless you are doing the Cannonball Run, top speed is irrelevant to 99.999% of drivers. Torque is emotional, and emotion is the prerequisite to all sales. The lesson? Emotion sells cars, so take customers out in an EV and let their emotions run wild. The feel of the wheel seals the deal is more powerful for EVs than it is for conventional cars.

Why more dealers don’t use that simple maxim to sell truckloads of EVs is a great mystery to me. If I owned a dealership, I would rent a local drag strip and invite customers to come blast through the quarter mile in an EV. I would also be sure to bring plenty of sales contracts, because no one can experience that explosion of torque and not want to own a car that can perform like that. It’s addictive, it’s fun, and it is the gateway drug to EV ownership.

Forget how much people will save on oil changes and brake repairs. That’s boring stuff. Zap the customers with a blast of emotion, then sit back and hope you have enough EVs in stock to satisfy the demand. It’s Sales 101. If it worked for Ana R, it will work for others as well.

Electric cars are emotional, so dealers, please, get your customers behind the wheel and let those emotions work their magic. You’ll be glad you did!