Chapter 28 — Exercises: The Electric Vehicle Transition

Work these to turn EV knowledge into EV instincts. Most need no answer key here — selected answers live in Appendix I. For calculation items, a numeric answer is tucked in a <details> block so you can check your math.

Difficulty legend: ⭐ basic · ⭐⭐ applied · ⭐⭐⭐ advanced/judgment · ⭐⭐⭐⭐ extension/research

Part A — Conceptual Understanding ⭐

A1. In your own words, explain the difference between kWh (kilowatt-hours) and kW (kilowatts). Which one is the battery's "fuel tank" and which one is a "rate"? Give one customer question that's really a kWh question and one that's really a kW question.

A2. Name the three charging levels and, for each, give the rough miles-of-range-per-hour and the one-sentence "who it's for."

A3. A gas car is most efficient on the highway; an EV is most efficient in the city. Explain why in one or two sentences. (Hint: what does an EV spend energy fighting at high speed?)

A4. List the five things that move an EV's real-world range away from the sticker number. Star the single biggest one for a cold-climate buyer.

A5. Define regenerative braking in plain English and name its two benefits. Then explain what one-pedal driving is and why some customers find it jarring at first.

A6. What is battery degradation, and roughly what capacity do many EV batteries retain after 8–10 years and 100,000+ miles? Is that "the battery dying"?

A7. What is the federal minimum battery warranty length in the U.S. (years/miles)? Why is it reassuring to a nervous buyer that the battery — the priciest part — gets the longest warranty?

A8. Explain the difference between the franchise dealer model and the direct-sales model for EVs, and name one real advantage a franchise dealer offers that a direct-sales website often can't.

A9. What is a PHEV, and in one sentence each, why is it a good "bridge" for (a) a nervous-about-range buyer and (b) a buyer with no easy home charging?

A10. Define range anxiety and give the one-line reframe that calms it for a daily commuter who charges at home.

A11. Explain why a gas car heats its cabin "for free" but an EV must spend battery energy to do it. What feature softens this winter penalty, and why is it a selling point in a cold market?

A12. A customer says, "I'll just fast-charge it every day, that's easy." Give two honest reasons daily DC fast charging is not the everyday plan, and what the everyday plan actually is.

A13. What does "10–80%" mean in the context of DC fast charging, and why don't road-trippers charge to 100% at a fast charger?

Part B — Applied Analysis ⭐⭐

B1. A customer in a cold northern state commutes 35 miles each way on the highway and wants to tow a small utility trailer occasionally. The car is rated 290 miles. Walk through, in plain language, what you'd honestly tell them about (a) their daily range worry, (b) winter, and (c) towing.

B2. A customer says, "I live in an apartment with street parking and no charger, but my office has free Level 2 charging in the garage." Is an EV plausible for them? What's the one fact that most changes the answer, and how would you confirm it?

B3. Calculate the home-charging cost. A 70 kWh battery, electricity at $0.18/kWh, real-world range 240 miles. - (a) What does a full charge cost? - (b) What's the cost per mile? - (c) Compare to a gas car at 26 mpg and $3.60/gal — which is cheaper per mile, and by roughly how much?

B4. A customer is thrilled because their neighbor told them "the EV is basically $7,500 off because of the tax credit." Identify *three* specific reasons that $7,500 might not apply to this customer, and write the honest sentence you'd use instead of agreeing.

B5. Match the customer to the right product (EV, PHEV, or gas) and justify in one sentence each: - (a) High-mileage commuter, house with a garage, low local electricity rate, no towing. - (b) Loves the idea of going electric but road-trips constantly and has no home charging. - (c) Tows a heavy trailer 200 miles every weekend and parks on the street.

B6. A customer asks, "Won't the battery just die in a few years like my phone?" Write a 3–4 sentence honest, reassuring answer that addresses degradation and the warranty without overpromising.

B6a. A customer is excited that "EVs need no maintenance at all." Gently correct the overstatement: list three things an EV genuinely doesn't need (vs. a gas car) and three things it still needs. Why is it better for you to volunteer the "still needs" list rather than let them discover it later?

B7. Build a quick 5-year TCO sketch from these numbers and say which car wins before incentives: Gas — $33,000 purchase, $7,200 fuel, $3,800 maintenance. EV — $40,000 purchase, $2,700 fuel, $1,400 maintenance, +$1,400 extra insurance. Then say in one sentence what could flip the result.

Part C — Skills & Practice ⭐⭐–⭐⭐⭐

C1. Write your incentive caveat — word for word. Draft the exact sentence(s) you'll say when a customer brings up a tax credit, so you capture the upside but never promise an amount or eligibility. It must mention: (1) it may help, (2) it changes and depends on their situation, (3) verify with the official source / a tax pro, (4) you won't count it in the deal as a promise. Then read it aloud until it's automatic.

C2. Write your home-charging reality-check script. Draft what you'll say to (a) find out where they'll charge and (b) give honest install-cost language (a range, what drives it, and the offer of an electrician's name). Keep it under 120 words.

C3. Role-play: the out-knowledged moment. A partner plays a battery-chemistry enthusiast who out-techs you on charge curves and thermal management. Practice the three-move recovery from §28.8: (1) concede the tech axis honestly, (2) redirect to the value you own (the specific car, logistics, money), (3) invite agreement. Do it three times until it feels natural, not defensive.

C4. Calculate and present a full TCO. Pick a real EV and a real comparable gas car (use manufacturer sites for prices). Build a 5-year TCO table: purchase, fuel/energy (use a real local electricity rate and gas price, 12,000 mi/yr), maintenance, insurance (get two real quotes if you can). Leave the incentive line labeled "if verified." Then write the honest two-sentence verdict you'd give the customer — even if it's "it's close, and it comes down to whether you want the EV experience."

C5. Build your range-band explanation. Write the 30-second spoken version of "the sticker is a center point, here's what moves it" for a cold-climate customer. Name the movers with rough numbers and end with the daily-commuter reassurance.

C6. Diagnose and fix. Read this exchange and identify three mistakes, then rewrite the salesperson's lines:

Customer: "How far does it really go in winter?" Salesperson: "Oh, the full 300, no problem. These batteries are great now." Customer: "And the home charger install — ballpark?" Salesperson: "Like five hundred bucks, easy." Customer: "And the $7,500 tax credit, I get that for sure?" Salesperson: "Yep, just knock it right off the price."

C7. Write the "I don't know" line. A customer asks you a battery-spec question you genuinely can't answer. Write the exact sentence you'd say that (a) admits you don't know without sounding incompetent, (b) commits to finding out, and (c) pivots to something you are certain about. Then explain in one line why this beats a confident wrong answer.

C8. Build a one-pedal test-drive demo script. Write what you'll say to a customer before and during the test drive to introduce one-pedal driving, reassure the nervous, and show the regen setting. Include the trial-close question you'd ask after they've felt it.

C9. Calculate the public-charging reality. A customer mostly road-trips and would DC-fast-charge a lot. Their EV has a 75 kWh battery and gets ~250 miles per full charge. A public fast charger near them costs $0.45/kWh. - (a) What does a "full" public fast charge cost, and what's the cost per mile? - (b) Compare that to charging the same car at home at $0.16/kWh (cost per mile). - (c) Compare the public-charging cost per mile to a gas car at 30 mpg and $3.60/gal. What honest conclusion do you give this specific customer?

C10. Build the full incentive-hedged TCO and present it live. Using the §28.5 structure, build a 5-year TCO for a real EV vs. a comparable gas car (your local electricity rate, gas price, 12,000 mi/yr, real insurance quotes if possible). Show the subtotal before incentives. Then write the exact spoken paragraph you'd deliver to the customer that (a) states the before-incentive result honestly, (b) notes incentives may improve it without promising an amount, and (c) directs them to verify. The goal: a presentation a deep researcher would respect and a skeptic couldn't poke a hole in.

Part D — Synthesis & Critical Thinking ⭐⭐⭐

D1. The chapter argues that an enthusiast who out-techs you is often the easiest sale, not the hardest. Make the case for why in your own words — and then argue the opposite (when might a deep-researcher EV customer actually be hard?). Which view do you find more convincing, and why?

D2. Is it ever ethical to recommend a gas car to a customer who came in asking about an EV? Build the argument using Theme #1 (help, don't sell), Theme #3 (ethics is the long game), and Theme #5 (the customer isn't the enemy). Give a concrete example of a customer for whom this is the right call.

D3. The incentive caveat is framed as both an ethics rule and a legal-risk rule. Explain both halves: what's the ethical problem with overpromising a credit, and what's the legal/business exposure? Why do the two reinforce each other?

D4. Some EVs depreciate faster than comparable gas cars, partly because the technology improves so quickly. The chapter offers leasing as one honest response. Explain why leasing addresses the fast-depreciation concern specifically — and connect it to the Chapter 23 threshold concept ("a lease pays for depreciation, not the whole car"). When would you not steer an EV buyer toward a lease?

D5. Theme #6 says "this is a real career, and the EV transition is its future." Rick dismissed the internet and it hollowed out his model. Make the argument that dismissing EVs today is the same mistake — and steel-man the opposite view (reasons a salesperson might rationally go slow on EV expertise). Where do you land?

D6. The chapter insists you should "sell the band, not the headline" on range, even though the headline number makes the car look better. Argue why the honest band is actually the stronger sales position over a career, not just the more ethical one. Then describe the specific customer outcome that the headline-only approach produces three months after delivery.

D7. Consider the dual audience of this book. The "🛒 For the buyer" asides tell buyers how to test whether a salesperson really knows EVs (e.g., the three-question test). Is it strange for a sales textbook to arm buyers against weak salespeople? Argue how this actually serves the good salesperson — and connect it to Theme #3 (ethics is the profitable long game).

Part M — Mixed / Interleaved Practice ⭐⭐–⭐⭐⭐

M1. (Ch 28 + Ch 2) Take your Chapter 2 product cheat-sheet framework (FAB — feature, advantage, benefit) and build a FAB line for three EV-specific features: the heat pump, one-pedal driving, and home charging. Remember: the benefit is what it does for this customer, not the spec.

M2. (Ch 28 + Ch 4) A digital researcher (Ch 4) arrives knowing the EV's specs cold and holding a credit-union pre-approval. Combine the Ch 4 "guide not gatekeeper" reframe with this chapter's "concede the tech, own the logistics" move into a single opening posture, in 3–4 sentences.

M3. (Ch 28 + Ch 27) A customer is deciding between buying an EV from your store and ordering the same-ish EV from a no-haggle direct-sales website (Ch 27). Without trashing the competitor, list the four franchise-dealer advantages you'd surface, and turn one of them into a spoken line.

M4. (Ch 28 + Ch 23 + Ch 24) An EV buyer is incentive-motivated and worried about fast depreciation. Explain how (a) a lease (Ch 23) can both capture an incentive and hedge depreciation, and (b) how EV F&I products (Ch 24) differ from a gas car's (no oil-change-based plans; EV-component coverage). Write the two honest sentences you'd say tying these together.

M5. (Ch 28 + Ch 13) Treat "I'm worried about range" and "the battery will just die" as objections in the Chapter 13 sense (an objection is a request for information/reassurance, not a "no"). For each, name the underlying concern and write the reassuring, fact-based response.

M6. (Ch 28 + Ch 10) On the test drive (recall your Ch 10 route + trial-close skills), what two EV-specific things should you make sure the customer feels — and what's the trial-close question you'd ask after each?

Part E — Research & Extension ⭐⭐⭐⭐

E1. Find the current federal EV incentive program's official government page (start from an authoritative source — see further-reading.md). Write a one-page summary of: who's eligible, what vehicles qualify, the price/income caps if any, and whether it's available at point-of-sale or claimed at tax time. Note the date you checked — because it changes. Then write the one paragraph you'd actually say to a customer, with all the right hedges.

E2. Research the EV charging situation in your own area: how many DC fast chargers within 10 miles, which networks, and the rough public charging price per kWh. Then research what a Level 2 home install actually costs locally by getting (or finding) one real electrician quote or estimate range. Assemble this into the "local logistics" half of your EV talk track.

E3. Pick one EV model and find its actual battery warranty terms (length, capacity threshold if any), its EPA range, whether it has a heat pump, and its DC fast-charge peak and 10–80% time. Build the spec half of a Chapter 2-style EV cheat sheet for that exact car — the kind that lets you answer an enthusiast's specifics without bluffing.

E4. Compare the buying experience of one direct-sales EV maker (order flow, pricing model, delivery, service) against the franchise-dealer experience at a store near you for a comparable EV. Write a one-page honest assessment: what does the direct-sales model do better for the customer, and what does the franchise dealer do better? Then turn the franchise advantages into two spoken lines you could use without trashing the competitor.

E5. Track an incentive over time. Find one EV incentive (federal, state, or utility) and document its current terms today, then check back in a few weeks or look up how it changed over the past year or two. Write a short reflection on why this exercise proves the chapter's core caveat — that you must never quote a credit as guaranteed, because the ground moves under you.

A note to close: the highest-value items here are C1 (your incentive caveat), C2 (your home-charging script), and C4 (a real worked TCO). Those three are the difference between a salesperson who talks about EVs and one who can actually guide a buyer through one honestly. Do those three for real, with real numbers, before you call this chapter done.