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Chances are “Electric for All” video spots will find you soon. And they’ll come with a familiar voice: Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson) is the spokesman and narrator for the largest nonprofit EV awareness program in the United States.

A nonprofit called “Veloz” received $43.5 million from Volkswagen’s Electrify America charging network to run the campaign. The plan is to saturate TV, radio, podcasts, search ads, and even social media. Only one thing is missing from the campaign: Any mention of the environment.

This ad campaign is a clear pivot. Instead of guilting buyers to fight global warming by improving MPG with a hybrid or adopting a full EV, it focuses on electric vehicles low cost to operate, range, and improved reliability. Offerman is an obvious choice for the pivot, his Ron Swanson character might be the most famous conservative in recent television history. Veloz is targeting a new segment of drivers to increase EV adoption.

How does Nick Offerman feel about EVs?

The “Electric for All” campaign is more than a paying gig for Offerman. He believes it wholeheartedly. “Weaning our civilization off of fossil fuels is the obvious path forward to choose, if we want to be responsible to ourselves and future generations in the way we steward our planet’s resources.”

So will this campaign work? I think Offerman and Veloz do an excellent job showing how few moving parts EVs have, arguing they require less maintenance. The campaign also makes the point: “The easiest way to save money on gas? Not buy gas.”

I’d say the campaign is still lacking on the topic of EV range. Two of its video spots just show a graphic of an EV cruising through an animated landscape while Offerman assures the viewer that EVs have enough range to meet their daily driving needs.

As difficult as it is to mistrust Offerman’s dulcet tones, it would be nice to see some actual numbers on the screen. Perhaps in a future spot, we could even watch Offerman complete an EV roadtrip to prove it can be done. I have my fingers crossed for a Parks and Recreation reunion across lovely Indiana.

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