Share Your EV Knowledge and Get Paid

The Electric Car Guest Drive program that is run by the publisher of Electric Car Insider is returning to this general area with 2 September dates, the 23rd and 24th, Friday and Saturday, in Pearl River, NY (Rockland County).

EV owners bring their vehicles for test drives (guest drives) with the owner in the passenger seat. The drive is over a pre-planned route that is between 1.5 and 2 miles. The event is taking place at 1 Blue Hill Plaza, which is an office complex and the home of the sponsoring utility, Orange and Rockland Electric. They have held events there in the past. The route is mostly the perimeter road of the parking lot with a short stretch on a local road as the parking does not completely surround the building.

Participation can be for 1 or 2 days and an honorarium of $300 is paid for each day. Lunch is provided. So is an optional dinner at a good restaurant with the staff and other EV owners.

Please arrive on site by 9:30 am. The event concludes at 4 pm.

The drives themselves are casual with no dealerships or salespeople involved in the event. EV owners just explain the basics of driving the vehicle, describe the drive-electric lifestyle, and answer questions. No sales pressure of any kind is involved. These events have a demonstrated track record of driving EV conversions. (It is not necessary to be an authority on the complicated new federal EV incentive.)

Vaccinated owners preferred. The event follows local public health guidelines as of the date of the event. Masks are not currently mandated. However, if an owner wishes to have masked guests, that will be honored.

Registration Info

A web page from Electric Car Insider describing details can be found here.

Register here.

You can also feel free to contact the Electric Car Insider publisher, Chris Alan, directly at Chris@electric-car-insider.com

Feel free to tell them that you were referred by the EV Club.

Get Paid for Sharing Your EV Enthusiasm

A lifetime ago (okay, 2 years) in pre-pandemic days, the club participated in several EV ride and drive events, called Electric Car Guest Drive, staged by the publisher of Electric Car Insider. My blog post about the first event is here. These events, typically sponsored by a utility or power authority, involve EV owners bringing their vehicles to be used for test drives (or guest drive) with the owner in the passenger seat. The drive is over a pre-planned route about 1.5 – 2 miles in length on local roads. No highway driving. Owners are paid $300 for each day they participate. Arrival is 9AM and the event runs from 10-4. Lunch is provided, as well as an optional dinner.

The test drive is casual with no dealerships or salespeople on site. Owners explain the vehicle, describe the ownership experience, and answer questions. Just conversation, no sales pressure of any kind. These events have been demonstrably successful at promoting EV ownership with 31% of test drivers buying an EV within 6 months.

Members of the public taking the drives are pre-registered and pre-screened.

If you are concerned about Covid, so are we! The event will only happen if it is safe. The organizer and the utility are watching developments closely. Drivers must be vaccinated. We await final word on protocol for the public and will update this space once we know. If you are interested, register to save the date.

Dates and locations:

September 23, 24, 25 – Middletown, NY (Orange County)

October 16 – Utica, NY

October 23 – Niagara Falls, NY

October 29, 30 – Middletown, NY

Those Utica and Niagara Falls locations are a bit far from CT, but there are a small number of folks on our list in upstate NY.

This is a link with more background information: www.electric-car-insider.com/evpresenters/

There is a registration link on that page. Or contact the publisher, Chris Alan, directly at Chris@electric-car-insider.com

Register for as many or as few days as you like. It’s a fun day!