There are a number of things that we recommend you do to optimize your with electric car buyers’ experience:

Get your team trained so they can confidently sell electric cars. Take advantage of the STCH EV Expert Certification Program.

Keep your electric cars charged and ready for test drives. These cars sell themselves with their emission-free, quiet, smooth, and exhilarating performance.

Be prepared to talk about and demonstrate ‘one-pedal driving’, low maintenance, charging, and the adequacy of the driving range (most customers will have commute ranges of less than 30 miles a day).

Talk about the various perks that are available to electric car owners. Here’s a good summary: Electric Car Benefits

Avoid deflection – customers who are shopping for electric cars will be disappointed by efforts to direct them to gas-powered cars.

Provide a reliable charging station to your customers. Provide easy access to the charging station and offer at least two plugs. Advertise this to your potential customers.

Be Charge-Smart! Get to know the types of charging stations and their locations across the island. A good way to do this is to sign-up for an account on Plugshare.com and to download their app. Your sales associates can use this to point out the many charging stations that we have across the island. Get familiar with the various car charging networks – Greenlots, SemaConnect, ChargePoint. These companies offer mobile apps and RFID cards that allow electric car owners to quickly charge their cars.

Refer your customers (or potential customers) to the BIEVA. If you have customers who would like to learn from other electric car owners, refer them to us. We have owners of the latest electric cars who are willing to share information about their ownership experiences. Refer them to this website or have them send an email to hawaiidriveelectric@gmail.com.

Join our events. We host events throughout the year, including National Drive Electric Week car shows and welcome dealers to participate. You’ll be able to provide potential customers with information and test drives, and establish contacts that will, hopefully, lead to a purchase! Visit our events page for details on our upcoming events.