Today, I attended the 2017 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, Michigan.
I decided to engage in a small social experiment - I wore my Tesla Model 3 T-shirt which proudly proclaims ‘My Next Car is a Reservation’. I was stopped no less than 4 times by people asking about my shirt and Tesla. “Did you really put $1000 down?”, “I was really hoping to see Tesla here”, “Vaporware”, “Elon is like PT Barnum - great sales pitch but you’ll never see your car”. I received countless sneers from the auto reps on the floor. People pushed me out of the way to get to the Challenger Hellcat. I heard people say "Tesla will be in big trouble" when looking at the BMW I-8.
As I went from automaker to automaker looking for their latest electric car offerings, I noticed a trend - nearly every electric car was relegated to the back of the display and the cars were decked out with as few options as possible. The Nissan Leaf was in the back and had a scant cloth interior, the Volkswagen e-golf had a cloth interior and was minimally equipped. The Prius was way in the back and also had a cloth interior. No leather, no sexy wheels with red brake callipers, no specs listed (including range), no light shows, no sexy models and no lineups. I wondered if anyone who wasn’t looking for EVs would have even known they were there - save for one exception: The Chevy Bolt.
The Bolt was the first car you saw going into the show and last one you saw when exiting. It was situated on a nicely lit rotating display and actually had a GM rep who was talking about it on the floor. It won ‘Car of the Year!” I had the chance to sit in one (it is MUCH smaller than I thought) and the GM rep told me how much he appreciated what Tesla has done to inspire 'serious' automakers to create electric vehicles when he saw my shirt. He kind of snickered when I told him that I had put $1000 deposit down on a model 3 - oh well.
I decided to engage in a small social experiment - I wore my Tesla Model 3 T-shirt which proudly proclaims ‘My Next Car is a Reservation’. I was stopped no less than 4 times by people asking about my shirt and Tesla. “Did you really put $1000 down?”, “I was really hoping to see Tesla here”, “Vaporware”, “Elon is like PT Barnum - great sales pitch but you’ll never see your car”. I received countless sneers from the auto reps on the floor. People pushed me out of the way to get to the Challenger Hellcat. I heard people say "Tesla will be in big trouble" when looking at the BMW I-8.
As I went from automaker to automaker looking for their latest electric car offerings, I noticed a trend - nearly every electric car was relegated to the back of the display and the cars were decked out with as few options as possible. The Nissan Leaf was in the back and had a scant cloth interior, the Volkswagen e-golf had a cloth interior and was minimally equipped. The Prius was way in the back and also had a cloth interior. No leather, no sexy wheels with red brake callipers, no specs listed (including range), no light shows, no sexy models and no lineups. I wondered if anyone who wasn’t looking for EVs would have even known they were there - save for one exception: The Chevy Bolt.
The Bolt was the first car you saw going into the show and last one you saw when exiting. It was situated on a nicely lit rotating display and actually had a GM rep who was talking about it on the floor. It won ‘Car of the Year!” I had the chance to sit in one (it is MUCH smaller than I thought) and the GM rep told me how much he appreciated what Tesla has done to inspire 'serious' automakers to create electric vehicles when he saw my shirt. He kind of snickered when I told him that I had put $1000 deposit down on a model 3 - oh well.
