ASK YOUR NEIGHBOR
U.S. Department of Energy – Drive Electric Initiative · Automotive
Challenge
Consideration — Suburban homeowners aged 30-55 in politically moderate swing counties who drive ICE vehicles, consider themselves pragmatic rather than ideological, and are open to new technology but deeply skeptical of anything that feels like government telling them what to do.
Insight
In middle America, the electric vehicle conversation had been captured by coastal early adopters and culture-war politics. For the average suburban two-car household, the barrier wasn't range anxiety or charging infrastructure — it was the feeling that EVs were 'not for people like me.' The strongest proof of relevance for any vehicle in these communities isn't a spec sheet or an endorsement — it's seeing one parked in a neighbor's driveway, because driveways are the most trusted showrooms in America.
Idea
Turn real driveways in overlooked middle-American neighborhoods into the nation's largest EV showroom by placing actual electric vehicles — loaned for a week at a time — in the driveways of volunteer households, then documenting their unscripted experiences on the surrounding streetscape through OOH installations that made each driveway a point of local conversation.
Execution
In over forty mid-sized cities across swing counties, the campaign identified volunteer households willing to host a loaner EV for seven days. Yard-sign-style OOH units — deliberately designed to look like real estate signs rather than government advertising — were placed at the curb reading 'This Driveway Is Now an EV Showroom. Ask Your Neighbor.' Larger community OOH boards displayed rotating, unfiltered quotes from participating households updated weekly, like a live neighborhood review feed. Local radio spots featured raw audio diaries from host families narrating mundane moments — grocery runs, school pickups, a quiet garage at night — rather than performance statistics. Social content was geo-targeted to ZIP codes surrounding each active driveway, featuring short selfie-style videos from hosts addressing their own neighbors by community name.