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Few things are as pervasive and as mind-numbingly predictable as the hatred of cars we’ve never actually driven. It’s a behavior embedded deep in the psychology of the car enthusiast. This isn’t new.
Gearheads have always argued over the unknown, muscle guys writing off rotaries, import fans sneering at Detroit iron, dismissing anything with heated seats and cupholders. But nowhere is this irrational antagonism more obvious than in the war over electric vehicles.
How a Simple Test Drive Converts 70-Year-Old Gas Car Owners
EVs have become the all-electric lightning rod for every cultural, political, and technological anxiety currently gripping the auto industry. And yet, in one small corner of rural Pennsylvania, a humble dealership stumbled onto something profound, all it takes to change a mind is a short drive and an open seat.
A Reddit user by the name of Buckles01 laid it out plainly in a post that’s been quietly making the rounds among EV circles:
“I live in a pretty rural area of western Pennsylvania, and after paying a bit of attention to the specific cars around me, I got a good idea of how many EVs were in my city. Outside of my own, I had only ever really seen a couple of Teslas, but they weren’t popular. Less than 10, probably closer to 5 throughout the city.
Over the past year, there were a couple more that popped up, including an EV9 and a Nissan Ariya. I’ve seen a couple of Chevys, both Blazers and Equinox, and even a Mustang. But the last couple of months, they’ve exploded. In my neighborhood, there are 4 prologues out of nowhere. They’re easy to identify since I work from home and my desk is by the window near the stop sign. I always hear them as they come to a stop (the prologues are actually pretty loud with their hums), and they’re three different colors, and the fourth has a bunch of decals. I’ve also seen some new blazers around.
I stopped in at a local shop and was talking to the owner like normal, and she mentioned getting a Blazer. Last person I would’ve thought, and a 70+ year old lady on the verge of retirement. I asked what made her switch, and she explained. She took her ICE in to get it serviced, and the dealer made a new policy. Any loaner vehicle that wasn’t kept overnight was required to be an EV. She said it was the safest and most comfortable she’s ever been in a car. She said she got her car back, and that’s really when she felt how much she missed the car. She went back 2 weeks later to buy what she had driven. And the family that owns the dealership she goes to also owns the Honda dealership.
That’s the biggest obstacle. Getting people to drive one, not necessarily buy them. Obviously the end goal is to buy and get more on the road, but instead of just talk, talk, talk, focus on just getting people to drive one. She wasn’t encouraged to buy it, just given it for a day. And that’s likely what happened with a lot of the prologues. GM and Honda are massive brands and have a lot of brand loyalty. There are people who won’t go to another brand with better vehicles just because they’re that loyal to these brands. This really is something dealers need to do more often. If they have loaner vehicles, they need to prioritize using EVs for them. It will sell cars.”
The dealer’s secret? Simplicity. If your gas-powered ride was in for service, but not overnight, they handed you the keys to an EV. No green lectures. No bullet-point flyers explaining carbon offsets. Just, “Here you go. See you later.” One of those sightings? A 70-something shop owner who took the EV Blazer as a loaner and wound up buying one two weeks later.
2024 U.S. EV Sales Jump 21% to 1.7 Million Units Amid Global 29% Surge
- In 2024, EVs accounted for over 10% of new car sales in the U.S., with approximately 1.7 million units sold, a 21% increase from the previous year. Despite this growth, the pace lags behind global trends, as North America experienced only a 5% increase in EV sales during the first four months of 2025, compared to a 29% surge worldwide.
- Recent federal actions, including the Senate’s vote to revoke California’s authority to set stricter emission standards and the House’s move to eliminate key EV tax credits, have introduced uncertainty into the EV market. These policy changes have led some automakers, like General Motors, to reconsider their EV strategies, citing concerns over affordability and infrastructure readiness.
- As of April 2025, the U.S. has over 204,900 public charging ports across more than 72,000 locations, supported by federal initiatives like the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. This expansion aims to alleviate range anxiety and support the growing number of EVs on the road.
There’s something deeply transformative about the act of driving an EV, even for the most stubborn internal-combustion holdouts. You tap the accelerator, feel that immediate torque, and suddenly the noise complaints fade. Jellybeansean3648 offered another slice of real-life logic,
“I don’t have to pump gas in the winter.”
The brilliance of this dealer’s policy is how it avoids the traps that rental companies stumbled into. LEM1978 nailed it,
“Rental car companies foisting them on unsuspecting tourists was NOT a good idea… At least as a service loaner, the variables are minimized…”
Exactly. The dealership environment is controlled. It’s local. There’s no guesswork about where to charge, and no fear of running out of range in the middle of Death Valley in a Kia EV6.
One 30-Minute EV Loaner Drive: The Most Effective EV Marketing Strategy
You’re not some hapless traveler trying to decode a ChargePoint interface with a 9% battery and no Wi-Fi. You’re just getting your tires rotated and test-driving the future by accident.
What’s even more telling is how the experience reprograms expectations. Buckles01 confessed,
“I tell them it’s just a fun car to drive, and I didn’t think about the environment side… I got my Ioniq 6 because it really is fun to drive on top of being greener.”
Fun. It’s the great equalizer. Forget MPG, grams of CO₂, or social guilt.
The grin you get from an electric launch off the line beats any sales pitch. That’s something you can’t explain. You have to feel it.
Over 204,900 Public EV Charging Ports in the U.S., Infrastructure Strains Ahead
- The U.S. has seen significant growth in its public EV charging network. As of January 2025, there were approximately 195,874 public charging ports across 69,679 stations nationwide. This marks a substantial increase from about 30,000 public chargers in 2016, reflecting efforts to support the rising number of EVs on the road.
- Despite the expansion, the U.S. electric grid faces challenges in meeting the increasing demand for EV charging. A 2025 report indicates that 90% of charging network operators anticipate that grid capacity limitations could hinder their growth in the coming year. This underscores the need for infrastructure upgrades to support the electrification of transportation.
- To enhance accessibility, businesses are incorporating EV charging stations into their operations. For instance, Waffle House plans to install fast-charging stations at select locations in partnership with BP Pulse. Each participating restaurant will feature six 400kW DC fast chargers, catering to both CCS and Tesla’s NACS connectors, thereby providing convenient charging options for EV drivers.
And from a dealership’s standpoint, this whole idea is just good business. As Herdnerfer put it:
“Makes total sense as a loaner vehicle, no gas to worry about, can be fully charged and ready to go when it’s needed, and maintenance is almost non-existent.”
No oil changes, no filters, no combustion complications. Just charge it, clean it, and hand over the fob.
Meanwhile, you’re exposing your customer base to a product they might’ve spent years badmouthing.
The trick is, they don’t even realize they’re being sold. And that might be the most elegant form of marketing ever devised, especially compared to the thousands of unsold EVs gathering dust on lots across the country because no one will offer a simple test drive. As thatboatguy observed,
“They had >20 on the lot unsold at the time.”
Unreal.
So here’s the quiet revolution happening in places like western Pennsylvania, EVs aren’t taking over because someone built a better battery. They’re taking over because someone built a better loaner policy. In a world of shouting matches, misinformation, and tribal loyalty to V8s, hybrids, or nothing at all, this dealership found the one thing that cuts through all the noise, experience. Because it turns out, the best way to win the EV war isn’t with facts, it’s with a key fob and a 30-minute drive through your own neighborhood.
Has your local dealership offered you an EV loaner while your car was in service?
Let us know what your experience was like in the comments below.
Image Sources: Hyundai Newsroom, Chevy Newsroom
Noah Washington is an automotive journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys covering the latest news in the automotive industry and conducting reviews on the latest cars. He has been in the automotive industry since 15 years old and has been featured in prominent automotive news sites. You can reach him on X and LinkedIn for tips and to follow his automotive coverage.
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Source: torquenews.com
