ACDC was asked last fall to put together a series of EV and HEV classes for the New England Tire and Service Association. This was held at
This year was different. The price of gas was the highest ever, and the Super Bowl was full of EV advertisements. This event had been postponed for two years. Tony printed 100 copies of the handout, actually two chapters from our new book, just to be optimistic. Deb and I drove the 68 miles to Foxwoods and checked into our hotel room. Then off to the trade show where we set up our simple booth and met some old friends from the ACDC “Emissions“ training days over 20 years ago. The tire dealers just passed by the booth, not even grabbing a free ACDC pen.
Foxwoods a week ago, at an American Indian-owned event center and casino in Connecticut. Tony, the executive director, was hoping for 60 people at the classes, although it was usually a smaller turnout. The trade show was always well attended and everyone always had a good time.
Saturday morning we headed to a beautiful carpeted event room with 100 chairs lined up perfectly. We have 60 pens and maybe 50 ACDC brochures. As it got closer to 8 am, more techs, shop owners, salespeople, and others filled up the room. Standing room only. Deb counted 108 people. Many of which were at a casino the night before and then got up early on a Saturday morning. The perfect storm had woken them up. This was a pretty conservative group. Only two owned a hybrid or EV and most were skeptical of all this EV stuff. It was very interactive as I wore a lavalier microphone on my ACDC shirt and walked down the aisles, answering every question they asked. Some were very blunt but respectful. I was not preaching to the choir. These people were not educated about EVs, but that was perfect. Not everyone is up to speed on the advancements of this technology. If you don’t drive an electric car, how would you know where the charging stations are? It was a lively discussion that lasted 3 hours. Did we convert a few? Hard to say, but it did strengthen my commitment to the ACDC mission. As Deb and I drove back to our home in Worcester, Massachusetts, the conversation was about how many people in our industry do not see future unfolding in front of them. Maybe these hundred-plus do now.
