Watch These EV Skeptics Change Their Minds After Driving Electric

• Four EV skeptics drive electric cars for the first time and they cast their opinions before and after the drive.
• One of the participants was completely sold on EVs and said they had already looked into buying one.
• Two of the participants said they still weren’t swayed but didn’t really bring solid arguments to back this up.

Even though the number of EVs is growing around the world, in some places more than others, there is still a sizable chunk of the population that wouldn’t be caught dead in one. For a tiny percentage of those people who may use the car for work, going electric may involve some compromises, but for the rest of them, they would be better off going electric.

If you like EVs and know how good they have become, or you’re already an EV owner and have experienced these vehicles first-hand, then you too have probably had a conversation with a skeptic. You’ve tried explaining to them that the bad things they’ve heard about electric propulsion simply aren’t true.

For me, driving long distances for hundreds of miles at a time was where I thought gas still has a big lead over EVs. But with so many rapid chargers popping up along main thoroughfares here in Europe, going cross-continent is almost too easy these days. I even drove EVs into the Alps on some of the most famous mountain passes and I experienced no anxiety while enjoying no power loss at high altitudes. And, spoiler alert, there are a lot of EVs driving through the Alps and on the highways in between.

For others, who still aren’t convinced by EVs, trying to have a conversation with them usually isn’t enough to change their mind. These people need to get behind the wheel and actually drive an EV, preferably for more than a few hours, to really understand what we pro-EV people are on about when we talk so passionately about this next step in automotive propulsion.

Electrifying decided to do just that and, with the help of Skoda UK, put some EV skeptics in electric cars. They got four self-confessed EV haters to try out the Skoda Enayq Coupe and the smaller Elroq. By the end of the drives, two out of the four participants said their opinions on EVs had shifted considerably, with one person admitting they even searched for used examples of the two cars to see how much they cost.

The two participants who said their opinion on EVs hadn’t changed much didn’t really provide any solid arguments, but it was clear that some progress had been made to get them to see electric propulsion in a more positive light. It’s pretty clear that most people who are vehemently anti-EV don’t really do much research and their negative views are based on stereotypes that don’t apply anymore, and even when you show them the contrary, they may still be unwilling to accept what’s right in front of them.