Is This How You Sell An Electric Car?
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By Morgan Clendaniel
Tesla might have been the car of the year, but the recent flap between the company and the New York Times about the car's actual range shows that the general population isn't quite ready to embrace electric vehicles as their new automobiles. If electric vehicles are going to catch on, it's going to take more than breakthrough tech. It's also going to take some breakthrough marketing.
This video above, called "Gallons of Light," is an ad for Tesla not sanctioned by the company. It was made by filmmaker Jordan Bloch after he saw Tesla's current videos and thought he could do better.
The video depicts an idyllic family trip of actual Tesla owners, using Tesla's solar-powered chargers. It is, as the voiceover says, "a road trip completely sponsored by the power of the sun." Bloch's ad positions the car squarely as an alternative to more wasteful means of transportation.
Is this the best way to sell EVs? Or should they be sold, like the Volt, based on cost savings from gas and the merits of the car itself? Surely, as EVs become more popular, companies will try both tactics. But as of now, the idea that people care about the environment enough to drop the $52,000 for a Model S seems hard to believe.
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Copyright 2013 by Fast Company. Reprinted with permission.
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1 Comments
Add CommentI wonder, what would any normal person's response be to someone who said to them,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"I drove my SUV out into the middle of the desert yesterday with only 2 gallons of gas in it. Would you believe it ran out of gas in the middle of no-where and I had to call the AAA to rescue me! These gas cars are junk!"
Unfortunately, separating stupidity from motor-journalists seems to be difficult. Why on Earth would they decide to stay overnight where they couldn't plug the EV in? That is basic EV driving 101.
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