Hi Bruce, Do you get the impression that these salespeople haven't been trained very well? Is this an indication of how serious Nissan is about the Leaf? It's not like being able to charge your shiny new Leaf isn't important, is it?
Perhaps its time to get some 'business' cards printed with some basic info or a link to a web site with all your pearls of EV wisdom on it? That way you can re-inforce your efforts with something tangible for your victi... er, I mean, contacts to take away with them and, hopefully, use later to remind them of all that you told them and more? If you are an iPhone user (I expect android has something similar) I suppose you could use an app like Bump to do the same (you tap two iPhones together to swap basic contact details via bluetooth). This might be deemed a bit too personal, though. I don't know how the typical American would take this...?! Interestingly, I have just downloaded ReCargo onto my (UK) iPhone - I'm sure I tried a few weeks ago after a previous post by you on the subject and the AppStore wouldn't let me download it because I was in the UK. I have asked them to add the Renault ZE range of EVs and that of Vectrix to the configuration options on the app as well as a standard UK mains socket to the 'charger' options. Regards, Martin Winlow Herts, UK http://www.evalbum.com/2092 www.winlow.co.uk On 7 Feb 2013, at 22:34, Bruce EVangel Parmenter wrote: > U.S. made Leaf EVs arriving at dealers ~April 2013 > L3 CHAdeMO 'is' being installed at Nissan Dealerships > > I stopped my local Nissan dealer as it had been awhile since I last > checked on them. It seems every-time I do, I see a new set of faces > (Auto sales staff turnover happens at dealerships). I figured as much > and that was one of the reasons for stopping by. A young sales type > allowed me to show him at the desk he was sharing, some of the EV sales > tools I had shared with their staff in several previous visits. > > First, I asked, why there were no Leaf EVs in the parking lot as before, > and how was their Leaf EV sales. He said they had already sold off all > their older Leaf EV inventory, so their Leaf sales were nil, but they > were taking plenty of orders for the new Leaf EVs that would be arriving > about the end of March. I will be making a return visit about April > after the stampede is over, to check out the U.S.made Leaf EV. > > Next, I had him bring up recargo.com to become familiar with it. I > explained the first screen was more than just that recargo offered an > app on either the iphone or android handhelds, but also the website was > a useful EV Charging Finder tool for any web enabled device (in this > case the PC at his sales desk). I had him bookmark/favorite a simple > search with their zip code. He was surprised at how many EVSE there were > in the area. I told him that was nothing and that later after I was > gone, he should make time to explore recargo with different addresses to > know what is really out there. A good sales tool was to use a > destination as the address so as to know what charging there was for the > customer's proposed EV trip. > > Also, I had him go the top of the page to learn about the ability to > select which EVSE type to search on (j1772, CHAdeMO, etc.). The number > of types threw him off for a bit, but I had him ignore that until I > showed him how selecting one or more EVSE types allowed him to tailor a > search that was more useful to his EV sales purposes (only selecting the > J1772 and CHAdeMO). > > Afterward, I explained the Avcon, LPI, and SPI were old 1990's EVSE that > were no longer used. His face scrunched up, and said, 'then why are they > on there, or preselected'. He was surprised to learn that there were EVs > made back before 2000, and that they were still on the road (Ahh, so > much EV history that no one knows about ...). > > I then had him select only the CHAdeMO with his zip code to show the > level-3 (L3) EVSE in the area. This is a useful tool when showing the > customer the L3 charging ability of the EV. An example would be if a > customer decided to drive from Silicon Valley to Sacramento (~125 miles > away). A stop at the new L3 at a Concord Business would be helpful > http://goo.gl/maps/CyxT3 > http://www.recargo.com/sites/7251 > > The previous staff told him of the VW R&D Lab just north of him in > Belmont, but I was showing him that there is a lot more now, and one > that is much closer for him use > http://www.recargo.com/search?search=palo+alto%2C+ca&commit=Search&filters[]=cha > I explained that the VW L3 is heavily used, (he experienced that), > especially now that VW is close to launching some plugin products. If I > had not shown him how to search for other L3 in the area, he may not of > taken the customer to a L3 site to show them how it works (an EVangel's > work is never done ...). > > I had to stop my efforts to inform him of the EV sales tools & > tips-n-tricks to enlighten the customer, because I could see by his eyes > rolling back that he was reaching data-saturation (I just plain know a > whole lot about EVs, and I have to keep from dumping on them, else these > sales types will remember nothing). > > By the amount of time we spent together (15 minutes) and the body > language of his boss and counterparts, I could see it was time for us to > continue our talk outside, away the showroom where the 'others' think he > is not working. When outside, I asked him where the L3 was to be > installed at that site. Briefly he was peaked that knew that Nissan is > installing L3 at many of their dealerships (obviously Nissan is pushing > CHAdeMO as well as their plugin sales), and we walked around to the > other side of the large dealership lot to show me where it was to > installed. > > It was to be near the entrance that fed the service area. I gave him my > suggestions to minimize the impact on access to the service area, yet > optimize the use of the L3 by both the service staff and the public. I > explained that the local L3 is used by EV drivers 24hr-a-day, so at any > time of the day or night, a driver may drop by for a charge. That > location around the corner would work well if they embrace my > suggestions. But neither he nor I are big fish, and too many times, the > powers that be, ignore those that know the most about the subject. > > Walking back, I am glad he trusted me enough to share with me that > Nissan dealership sales teams still have a hardship when selling EVs as > compared to selling an ice. He explained that there is so much more > paperwork selling an EV than with an ice sale, and it is that additional > hassle is why many of the staff prefer to sell ice over EVs. > > This is the exact same situation that occurred in the 1990's when the > Big7 Automakers were leasing their EVs to the public. And why a local > Honda dealership was glad to let our San Jose EAA Chapter members sign > out lives away (if it broke we had to pay) to take their EVplus > http://www.netcarshow.com/honda/1997-ev_plus/ > to the EVents our Chapter attended. > > At that Honda dealership, the rep explained that no one wants to deal > with the EVs because it is such a hassle when compared to selling an ice > (the sales types go for the easiest route to get their commission > money). BTW all our SJEAA Chapter's efforts to be the dealership's free > sales force was rewarded with Honda meeting their CARB mandate goal and > then Honda shutting down their EV program (they did not need to lease > anymore = we got screwed for our effort). > > ... > There is a piece I will be posting about Ford's efforts to win > Dealership over to selling plugins. The wording includes EV, but really > Automakers right now are pushing their pih/phevs. Not much has changed > since the 1990s, Automakers and Oil companies still do not like EVs, and > are doing everything they can do to not sell them. Deja vu ... > > ... > On my way home I stopped by a local shopping center when I spied a Leaf > coming in to park. I was pretty tired after all the EVangel effort, but > one sight of a chance to talk EVs had my adrenaline pumping and I was > good to go until my goal was reached (then these old-bones would start > aching again). > > I caught up with the driver getting her two young children out of the > vehicle and into a shopping basket. Beginning our conversation with "How > do you like your Electric?" as an ice-breaker works pretty well. I > explained that I new a lot about EVs, and only wanted to chat a bit with > her (I motioned that I was going in to the store as well, so we could > walk together while I yakked away). > > It turns-out she worked a the local Mt. View Google where she got a $99 > month lease (company deal?) on the Leaf, and she gets to charge at work > for free (Google has a ton of private EVSE for only their employees to > use. Google has a stronger incentive that most local High Tech companies > to encourage plugin use: Google's server farms do their fair share of > electrical power consumption, so the EV encouragement offsets some of > the power plant pollution they cause). > > She showed me that she had a keyring Chargepoint card, but not a Blink > card. I showed her that I carry both. I mentioned to her that there is > still a lot of Level-3 charging in the area that she could tap into. > That when she gets home that she should familiarize herself with > recargo.com as it is an excellent EV Charging Finder resource. She said > she had no idea that all the was available to her (she had been only > using the Chargepoint site = ng). I could see by her body language that > it was time for us to end our chat and let her continue on with her > shopping chores. She was appreciative of my EVangel efforts and we > parted ways. > > So, my last effort was quite a good one, but it is still scary to me > that so many EV noobs are going out without being informed about all > that is out there for them to tap into (EV Charging Finder app/sites, > discussion forums, etc.). I am glad there are younger generation > EVangels out there to pass this baton over to, as I am getting a older > and need the help of others to take up the slack. > > > {brucedp.150m.com} > > -- > http://www.fastmail.fm - Access your email from home and the web > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA > (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20130208/210700b4/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
