Automakers' biggest green car challenge just might be education

Regular readers can probably list a dozen differences, small and large, between the Chevrolet Volt and Toyota's plug-in Prius. But what about your more average car buyer? What do they know about plug-in vehicles? The Detroit Free Press spent some time at the Detroit Auto Show's Electric Avenue during the public days talking to people who were there just to see what's new with cars these days. There are some good quotes in the article (read the whole thing here), but here's the one that stands out:

I know where to buy gas right now and I know where to take my car for maintenance. I have no idea where I would plug in a car or how to take care of a hybrid.

An anecdote doesn't accurately describe an entire customer market, we know, but this just goes to show that there's a lot of education work still to be done. Got any great tips on how to make people less afraid of getting off gasoline?

[Source: Detroit Free Press]