Doorless 'Pratt-Leaf' EV abandoned on city street for months

[brucedp]

I posted this newswire piece on the evdl.org

http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Doorless-Pratt-Leaf-EV-abandoned-on-city-street-for-months-td4665972.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

% Someone in Silicon Valley has money enough to burn to do that to their lovely Leaf EV ... %


[*UPDATE 2013/10/28 from the writer has been added ]



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[cwerdna]

Interesting... I wonder if it's the same one as the other door-less one at http://www.quora.com/Palo-Alto-CA/Is-it-legal-to-drive-a-Nissan-leaf-without-doors" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

IIRC, it's been posted about a bunch of times at the SF Bay Leafs Facebook group and someone pointed to the above Quora URL. It also contains the answer (which is somewhat buried) as to why.

Is it legal to drive a Nissan leaf without doors?

I called the Palo Alto police department before taking the doors off of my new electric golf cart (2012 Nissan leaf). I obtained verbal permission from the sergeant and he said that it was legal as there "is no difference between a jeep and a Nissan leaf."

Over the last three weeks, I have been pulled over four times for probable cause, but today the police sergeant that pulled me over strongly advised that I put the doors back on. After doing some research, he concluded: It's legal for motorcycles & off-road vehicles, like jeeps, not to have doors, but normal vehicles need to have them.

As for why:

Short answer: Freedom and a greater sense of connection to the surrounding world.

Long answer: I was going to get a Model S and then realized that for 1/2 the price I could get a Honda Civic Hybrid, Nissan Leaf, Columbia SM4, and 3 LocalMotion units to share the vehicles with my friends and always know where they are. After doing this for a few months, I found that I didn't really have a use for the leaf. For all trips under 35 miles, I would take the golf cart and for all trips over 60 miles, I would take the civic.

I was drinking hot chocolate in the columbia three weeks ago and realized why I liked driving the golf cart so much. No doors not only removed the friction of getting in and out of the vehicle, but also felt amazing when going less than 35mph (ask any jeep owner). It also is better than a convertible because the roof still provides protection from the rain.

I immediately golf carted home, called the PA Police Department, removed 16 bolts, put tape over the driver's side door push button switch (to stop the beeping sound), and installed a new sound system (speakers are in the leaf doors).

 

[DarkStar]

Umm... The mirrors are on the doors, so it would be illegal to drive without the doors unless you replaced the side mirrors with something. My guess is that he didn't replace the mirrors.

 

[cwerdna]

Mystery solved per http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1087975_electric-car-mystery-doorless-abandoned-nissan-leaf-in-palo-alto?fbfanpage" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[UPDATE: Through a combination of crowd-sourcing and private contacts, we tracked down the owner of the hapless Leaf. Tom Currier, a Stanford student who has 'stopped out' to work on a startup company, confirmed that the grimy, doorless Leaf is his.

He writes: "My friends and I had removed all four doors for the summer (thus turning the Leaf into a high-speed golf cart), and then decided to put the doors back on in the fall. The driver-side door still needs some repair (we took it apart out of curiosity), so it hasn't been reattached yet."

And there you have it. Oh, those crazy Stanford students.]

It is the same guy as in the quora link I posted. Weird.