Why would an electric car be as bad as a refrigerator? Or as coffee?

And what did the FTC specifically warn Volkswagen dealers not to do?

This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, August 12, 2016.

Friday, we covered a summary of human behavior that looks at how and why people fear new things even if they will bring beneficial change.

Initially, both coffee and refrigerators were viewed with skepticism and alarm. We look at why the same principles may apply to electric cars.

On Thursday, we noted that GM often talks about "urban" markets for its 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV.

President Barack Obama looks at 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car at Detroit Auto Show, Jan 2016

President Barack Obama looks at 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car at Detroit Auto Show, Jan 2016

We asked what that may actually mean, and what the implications might be for its ability to compete against other coming 200-mile electric cars, including the Tesla Model 3.

Wednesday, we covered another Tesla Autopilot story, this one with a happier ending than the fatal Florida crash of a Model S.

A Missouri man says the Autopilot in his new Tesla Model X helped him drive 20 miles to the hospital when he was semi-conscious during an acute cardiac episode in late July.

On Tuesday, we published an exclusive article on a new study looking at how attitudes and expectations differ between early electric-car adopters and the general buying public.

The survey from Simon Fraser University looked at new-car buyers in the English-speaking provinces of Canada and compared them to electric-car pioneers in British Columbia.

2017 BMW 330e i Performance

2017 BMW 330e i Performance

We kicked off the week on Monday by highlighting a pair of ads for the 2017 BMW 330e plug-in hybrid sport sedan that implicitly compared it to the not-yet-arrived Tesla Model 3.

The ads suggested you wouldn't have to wait for the BMW. Readers debated furiously whether the cars were at all comparable.

The same day, we looked at the major marketing challenge facing partly electric car like the 14-mile BMW 330e and other plug-in hybrids: buyers simply don't understand them. At all.

Finally, we've started running Twitter polls to get quick gauges of sentiment from our readers. After the polls close, we write about the results.

Last week, we covered the results from two questions: What percent of new cars will have plugs in 2025? And, which electric car excites you the most?

2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI Six-Month Road Test

2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI Six-Month Road Test

And as VW diesel owners wait for final approval of the settlement that will allow buyback offers to be issued, two pieces of news landed on the VW diesel emission scandal front.

First, Consumer Reports wrote that buyback amounts should be higher. Then, the Federal Trade Commission specifically warned VW dealers not to mislead diesel owners.

Those were our main stories this week; we'll see you again next week. Until then, this has been the Green Car Reports Week in Reverse update.

________________________________________________

Follow GreenCarReports on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.