Chinese food trick

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Rat

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 25, 2010
Messages
977
Location
Silicon Valley
Okay, this trick is not unique to Leafs, but I've found it very useful and thought I'd share it. Our favorite Chinese restaurant won't deliver to us so we have to order takeout when we don't want to go there in person. The local environmental police do not allow plastic bags for takeout food in general, but Chinese restaurants got an exception to the ordinance if there is soup in the order because of potential leakage. Before I discovered the trick I would place the bag on the passenger seat sometimes, or in the passenger footwell. In either case the bag could fall over when I rounded a turn and spill soup if the lid to the container didn't stay on. I don't think it ever was a big disaster, but I remember one spill and a couple of times lurching to my right and grabbing the bag as I turned, instead of watching the road and keeping two hands on the wheel. I could have had an accident. So the trick is to use the passenger seat belt. The Leaf's seat belt easily stretches the right amount to feed through the plastic bag's loop handles while the bag sits in the footwell immediately in front of the passenger seat. Latch the belt and you can take those turns as fast as you like. The bag stays upright. This trick doesn't work with paper bags unless you have the type with sturdy loop handles.
 
I delivered Chinese food for over 6 years, this was never a problem. I don't get it. And a delivery driver generally drives a little faster and more aggressively than your average driver as we literally have places to go and people to see as fast as possible just to do it again. You learn to rally race your car, taking a corner just on the edge of your tire grip but not necessarily going over the speed limit. Braking fast and accelerating hard, again within the legal limits but it really does add up.

You can usually get 4 orders on the floor and 4 or more on the seat. Put a piece of cardboard over the 4 on the floor, and you can layer another 4. Add a 2 litre pop bottle to the seat and cover with a piece of cardboard, and now everything is flat.

As a delivery driver I inspected every bag that went into my vehicle, even the ones I packed myself. Those lids stay on just fine if put on properly. Pay for your order, take it outside, open it up, and secure all the lids. Then you don't have to worry about it.
 
The Chinese restaurant I use is near a liquor store, and they have stacks of empty booze cases to use to pack the food securely. I do use the rear seat belt to secure a shopping bag placed on the seat, though.
 
Rat said:
Okay, this trick is not unique to Leafs, but I've found it very useful and thought I'd share it.

And one that is unique to LEAFs (of a certain age) - you can use the plastic carabiner that holds the EVSE bag onto the D ring in the trunk - unhook the carabiner, slip it through the handles of the plastic bag, and then fasten it back on the D ring. :D
 
mwalsh said:
Rat said:
Okay, this trick is not unique to Leafs, but I've found it very useful and thought I'd share it.

And one that is unique to LEAFs (of a certain age) - you can use the plastic carabiner that holds the EVSE bag onto the D ring in the trunk - unhook the carabiner, slip it through the handles of the plastic bag, and then fasten it back on the D ring. :D

You carry your EVSE with you? I stopped doing that within a year of driving my Leaf.
 
mwalsh said:
GetOffYourGas said:
You carry your EVSE with you? I stopped doing that within a year of driving my Leaf.

Always. You never know.

True, you never know. But in the extremely unlikely event I'd need it (hasn't happened yet in 6.5 years), there are other options - call a friend to bring it, get a tow to a nearby L2, etc. To me, it's like carrying a gas can with a quart of fuel everywhere you go "just in case".

FWIW, I do carry one when I'm taking a trip out of the ordinary. Just not on my daily commute / errands driving.
 
To me, it's like carrying a gas can with a quart of fuel everywhere you go "just in case".

Good for you. However, since the EVSE doesn't go stale, can provide much more energy than a quart of gasoline, and isn't explosive, that is a poor analogy.
 
LeftieBiker said:
To me, it's like carrying a gas can with a quart of fuel everywhere you go "just in case".

Good for you. However, since the EVSE doesn't go stale, can provide much more energy than a quart of gasoline, and isn't explosive, that is a poor analogy.

Yes, plus the quart of fuel can instantly get you enough range to get to the nearest gas station as opposed to only enabling you to beg to use the nearest outlet...for several hours...

A portable "trickle charger" EVSE just is not very useful in an emergency situation. There are far better options. And like I said, if you are travelling or visiting someone, that's different - that's not "just in case".
 
GetOffYourGas said:
A portable "trickle charger" EVSE just is not very useful in an emergency situation. There are far better options. And like I said, if you are travelling or visiting someone, that's different - that's not "just in case".

Ah, yes, but with the EVSE Upgrade and a bag full of different plug adapters, it opens up many more possibilities when it comes to begging for an emergency charge! That said, I've never had to use it like that, and even when I do run low I usually find an eVgo or ChargePoint DCFC instead.
 
mwalsh said:
Rat said:
Okay, this trick is not unique to Leafs, but I've found it very useful and thought I'd share it.

And one that is unique to LEAFs (of a certain age) - you can use the plastic carabiner that holds the EVSE bag onto the D ring in the trunk - unhook the carabiner, slip it through the handles of the plastic bag, and then fasten it back on the D ring. :D

Also useful, 3 small S-carabiners hooked into the child-seat anchors of the back seats. Great for keeping grocery/shopping bags of all kinds from tipping.
 
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