If you follow Chevrolet on social media (of course we keep an eye on all automakers), you’ve probably seen something called The Intersection pop up in a Bow Tie post. It piqued our interest, so we made a very important mouse click to see what it was all about. And what we found was… strange.
The premise isn’t weird at all. Clicking on the post will take you to an interactive website designed to be a futuristic virtual showroom for all things EV. There’s a Chevrolet Blazer EV in SS trim floating on a pedestal, with a series of “doors” on the right that lead to individual online tours for the Equinox EV, Silverado EV, Bolt EV, and the Bolt EUV crossover. Tracing backwards and you will literally earn Chevy MyWay videos. On the left, you’ll find several games designed for PC, mobile, and VR via Oculus. Neat, right?
The weird part is how you interact with this virtual world. Before setting your digital foot on the ground, you are required to do so start or take the tutorial, which, to be honest, no one will do. Your avatar is a gray androgynous shopper in a Chevy EV hoodie, but clicking the little man-shaped icon at the bottom right brings up all kinds of options for creating your custom avatar. And we mean all type.
Options include gender, skin tone, hair color, hairstyle, clothing, accessories, or you can upload a photo of yourself. Don’t like how your avatar looks? Change nose or lips. Feeling a bit murderous? Choose a hockey mask that mostly resembles Jason’s cup on Friday the 13th franchise. Alternatively, you can follow our route with Princess Leia from star wars, complete with a purple bun and costume resembling a Storm Trooper who escaped from the Thunderdome. We said it was weird.
We’ll give Chevy credit where it’s due. The automaker is eager to get its electric vehicle lineup before new eyes, and at the very least, it’s an interesting way to do it. We suspect it’s also a neat way to gather data from potential buyers, as some virtual areas require a free account to use. However, if you’re dying for a virtual test drive with that new Oculus VR set you got for the holidays, Chevy has you covered.
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