One of the major tasks of electric-car advocates is getting people used to the idea of cars with plugs.
For some people, driving around in near silence and plugging in at charging stations can take some getting used to.
But what if someone has driven only electric cars, and decided to see what an "old-fashioned" internal-combustion car was like?
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That's the scenario laid out in a short video from Swedish electric-car advocacy group Power Circle.
The project was inspired by a post describing the hypothetical "test drive of a petrol car" that was posted on the Tesla Club Sweden website last spring
The video depicts an electric-car driver shopping at a dealership that only sells gasoline and diesel cars--and being somewhat forced to take one of those vehicles for a spin.
2014 Porsche Cayman manual transmission gear shift lever
Things don't go well, as it turns out.
While she finds the engine note of the gray station wagon pleasant, the test driver is flummoxed by its manual transmission.
Admittedly, given the preponderance of automatics, that could be the case for many drivers here in the U.S.--whether they have electric cars or not.
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The driver sets off after some instruction from the salesman, but--unsure of how much is in the tank--she quickly decides to stop for fuel.
She accidentally sprays herself with fuel, but almost seems more upset about the cost than being doused in the flammable, foul-smelling liquid.
Upon returning to the dealer, the salesman's nonchalant reminder that they could "drop dead" if the car is run inside for too long doesn't exactly ease concerns about the potential health effects of an internal-combustion car.
Gas pump
After that experience, the test driver doesn't seem eager to switch from electric cars anytime soon.
That's an attitude shared by many actual drivers who have bought electric cars--and say firmly that they have no plans to go back to gasoline or diesel.
While plug-in cars are somewhat novel today, at the turn of the 20th century internal-combustion, battery electric, and even steam cars competed on more or less equal footing.
MORE: Electric Car Drivers Tell Ford: We'll Never Go Back To Gasoline
The car industry was relatively young at that time, and of course internal combustion eventually came to dominate the market.
But with modern electric cars becoming more common, perhaps someday buyers will once again compare them with gasoline more objectively.
[hat tip: Mazdak Haghanipour]
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