...So for over a year I've operated 40-50 uber rides weekly. Mostly in Wollongong. A couple in Wagga, Hunter Valley, Dubbo, Orange. Even Sydney sometimes ;-)
It's rare that I carry someone who's been in an EV before. And if they're a repeat rider, that's even better, as they've considered everything they asked on the previous ride.
4 out of 5 riders is intrigued or outright excited about it. Many of them fire off all the usual questions. I've gone over all the usual answers so many times I can disempower just about any of the critics. Last weekend I had a coal miner from Tahmoor who felt he needed to paint himself as the good guy as he worked in coking coal. Yeah, no. If someone's obviously on the blue collar side of the fence, I'll outright say I don't care if the power comes from coal, so long as it comes from Australia. That one alone shatters the critics usual arguments. And to be honest, I kinda don't care. I'm not a purist. Don't put the cart before the horse.
There's usually a "Wow, that screen is so big, you could watch movies on it!" "Only when it's in park. It's got YouTube, Netflix and Twitch. Comes in handy if you're stuck at a slow charger!"
Then I'll use the MCU to plot long trips to a distant destination of their choice. If someone says Brisbane I'll usually plot a trip to Gympie. Though Byron Bay is popular. Melbourne is kinda boring. Anyway, their eyes light up as they realise the supercharger stops aren't too frequent or too long. And then I'll say that there are alternative chargers along the highway that are cheaper and slightly faster, if you know where to look. And if they want to engage on that, I'll also mention aussie made and aussie owned.
If I haven't got that far, they'll always ask "How long does it take to charge the car?" "Usually about 10 seconds, I plug it in at home & go to sleep. Next morning it's good for about six hours of Uber driving. But if that's not enough, there's a seriously good charger down at Shell Cove under the new Woolworths. It'll give this car a solid charge in 37 minutes." "Six hours?" "Yeah, though on highways and freeways the wind resistance kills it, hence the funny door handles. I'll only get 2½ hours before I have to charge. But fast chargers are everywhere, and by the time you've had a bathroom break, a coffee, maybe a meal, you're good to go".
Many of my riders are tradies. I'll ask if they saw the launch of the Cybertruck - "the one with the broken windows". Many have. I'll talk about the onboard 240 volts so you're not sucking down generator fumes at work sites. I'll talk how the electric vault cover makes it hard to ever have tools stolen again. I'll say it's just as fast as this car & about the same price. And if they haven't felt a solid plant on the accelerator, that'll happen at the next green light. They're utterly hooked. And I'll say stuff like "keep that old ute another year and see what's around then"
If that's not building up the business of charging companies like Chargefox, I don't know what is.
