Chevy rolls out new EV training sessions for dealership salespeople

Chevy is launching a national EV road tour in the U.S. to help salespeople better understand the ins and outs of EVs.

The end goal is to provide sales associates at dealerships with the needed insight to be able to comfortably sell EVs to consumers shopping for a vehicle.   

The details: 

• The EV training sessions will be hosted in five states and are expected to draw 7,000 dealership employees. 

• One of the key focuses of the sessions will be to dispel the myths associated with EVs. 

• Salespeople will have an opportunity to drive Chevy electric vehicles, competitive models, and ICE vehicles to compare them with EVs. 

What they’re saying: "We've had live drive events in the past. We've done five-city tours before. But this is the first time that we've been so EV-focused," said Michael MacPhee, Chevy's director of sales operations, told Automotive News.

•  "Having conversations about it with as many customers as you can and creating that general awareness, I think, is super helpful," added Andy Guelcher, who chairs the Chevrolet National Dealer Council. "It gives them a lot more confidence.

Big picture: Chevy’s EV training sessions couldn’t come at a more critical time, when it comes to efforts aimed at driving the wider adoption of electric vehicles. According to a June report by McKinsey and Company 44% of the respondents said they were “very likely” to postpone their switch to an electric vehicle.  

Bottom line: Despite all the investment in training and education, many shoppers remain wary of the usual suspects: range anxiety, charging availability, and higher upfront costs. That said, Chevy’s Blazer EV sales have spiked—52% of buyers in August were new to the brand, many of whom were cross-shopping from Toyota, Ford, and Honda. Time will tell if Chevy’s training efforts further shift the needle on consumer perceptions around EVs.

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