On Wednesday, April 1st, owner of GS Motors, Pavel Ihnatovich invited local community members to tour his facility located in Hopkins, MN from 6 – 8 pm. GS Motors is currently Minnesota’s only used car dealership specializing exclusively in electric vehicles.
GS Motors is proud to be a member of Xcel Energy’s Renewable Connect program which provides 100% of our electricity from locally sourced wind and solar generation facilities. That means that the electric vehicles are powered by 100% clean and renewable energy. His mission is to supply Minnesota residents with reliable used electric cars, making the technology more popular and accessible for those who care about our planet.
Attendees enjoyed a full agenda with a dozen electric vehicles displayed inside the garage including a Nissan LEAF, Kia Niro, Kia EV9 & Hyundai Ioniq, Volvo C40 Recharge and more. About 12 test drives were completed between the following three vehicles currently in his inventory: Kia Niro, Kia EV6, and Hyundai Ionic 5.
The social hour featured 30 private electric vehicles, giving attendees a chance to get honest, real-world insights. Owners were on hand to swap stories and answer questions for both first-time buyers and current EV drivers looking for their next upgrade.
Pavel and Jukka Kukkonen led the discussion on what to consider when looking into purchasing a used EV. Demo units of charging ports and several different versions of NACs adapters were passed through the crowd, explaining expected costs and setting up home charging. Education continues to be an important step for both staff at dealerships and local EV owners promoting dealerships that are more “savvy”. The crowd was tasked to submit recommendations for the EV Sales Savvy lists of EV salespeople recommended by Minnesota EV Owners.
Topics also included an update on state legislation and utility EV plans by Fresh Energy staff Anjali Bains, EV auto shop opportunities by The Foreign Service owner Stew Robers and upcoming events from several attendees. Minnesota Clean Cities Coalition director, Lisa Thurstin provided handouts to bring to Drive Electric Earth Month events included EV Info lists, as well as EV FAQs, banners and EVSE demo units.
