Questions Strangers Ask about your Leaf?

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I only got asked once in a blue moon with my 2013 leaf, and now only other Leaf drivers recognize that my 2018 IS electric. What I mainly got asked was "What's the range?" I also got "Is that electric?"
 
LeftieBiker said:
I only got asked once in a blue moon with my 2013 leaf, and now only other Leaf drivers recognize that my 2018 IS electric. What I mainly got asked was "What's the range?" I also got "Is that electric?"
Sometimes how long does it take to charge?

I answer:

I don't know, it happens sometime between when I get home in the evening and when I leave in the morning.
 
Here in CA, not really. Nothing with the Leaf. Only with the Model 3 a couple months back, something that would have happened if we were driving our Leaf: an elderly lady walking by asked about what I was plugging into my car when engaging a Tesla destination charger on a road trip. She seemed quite curious and noted she had never really heard about EVs before. As we walked away, she started talking to her friend about this and one could overhear they both thought this was a pretty cool development.

Really the only conversation about our Leafs over the years has been at L2 or DC fast charging stations when I might strike up a brief conversation with another PHEV/EV driver plugging in or out at an adjacent spot. In these cases we usually talk specs, how the vehicles fit our needs, etc.
 
dcdisc said:
Thank you for answering. Helpful. Have you successfully encouraged someone to buy a Leaf or any other electric car? If so, how? I am interested in how we can as individuals push EV adoption.


My housemate drove a Prius III for several years on a lease. When she turned it in I convinced her to go to the extra effort of acquiring a Prius PHEV. It didn't hurt that the PIP was $20 a month less to lease, with a smaller down payment, or that it was virtually the same car she had been driving, with a bigger battery pack and a little more weight. She likes the car a lot, despite disliking EVs. She even bought it when the lease ended. She does all local errands in EV mode, even in Winter.
 
dcdisc said:
Thank you for answering. Helpful. Have you successfully encouraged someone to buy a Leaf or any other electric car? If so, how? I am interested in how we can as individuals push EV adoption.

Yes. I've persuaded, well maybe not persuaded, but I talk about our Leaf all the time around my peers, and two of them now have Leafs. Since we're the only people they know who drive an EV, I'll take credit for why they are driving a Leaf.

Mostly my selling point is the cost/mile and low/no hassle. Want the most reliable car you can buy? Here ya go. Oh, btw, it's also cheaper to drive than that Civic you're driving. Worked for them.
 
The only question I've been asked so far is "how do you like your LEAF?" ...At which point I started gushing. I'm surprised she didn't ask why I don't marry it. :oops:

On my last camping trip, I was plugged into a level 2 at a hotel and a current-gen LEAF was connected to the other plug. A free-spirited-looking gent shuffled up, looked at the charging cables and cars, said "cute," and kept shuffling.

On the same trip, on a different level 2 in a mountain town with a bike/walking path next to it, I was plugged in next to another current-gen LEAF. I noticed several groups of pedestrians stopping at the charging station, pointing, and conferring.

It took a while to convince my grandparents that it doesn't have some kind of gasoline backup.

I think I've done the most EV-advocacy replying to posts on Facebook. There's so much misinformation that the general public is holding on to (and a significant number of trolls).

Hmm...for a T-shirt slogan, how about "This car Kicks Gas!"
 
I've been talking up the Leaf in the 3 months we've had it. With exactly two exceptions, I have gotten exclusively polite, but decidedly cool reactions. No one wants to hear about our electric car. No matter the range. No matter the cost. No matter liveliness, fun-to-drive, etc, etc.

I guess everyone we know is convinced that all electric cars are ugly, under-powered, horribly limited little egg-mobiles. Not a Tesla? Shrug.

Several have talked about prior experiences in early Leafs, especially in winter, where the owner wasn't certain they'd make it across town, so everyone froze while they nursed the car to their destination. Left an impression, apparently, and not a confidence-inspiring one.

It will take some time for new info to trickle through. Nissan et al will definitely need to step up with some advertising. Tesla won't. They don't need to.

Kind of frustrating, actually. Not to mention, just plain sad.

I should mention that I'm in IT, and know a bunch of gear heads and geeks. Some with solar on their houses. I would have expected a warmer reception to be honest.
 
I like to think that 2 of my acquaintances who have purchased Leafs after I did were swayed by my positive opinion. In both cases, I think it helped a lot that it was a secondary car (as it was for me). Especially for a Leaf, I think that's an important qualification. Of course, as many here can attest to, once you drive an EV you want all your trips to be done in a EV :mrgreen:

There are 4 drivers in our household and (excepting my wife's work pickup) 95% of our driving could be done on a Leaf. The pickup is probably used for a few k miles a year at most but for her work (landscaping) having an old beater truck is essential.
 
My most recent encounter...

So we were at my inlaws and their boat needed gas so I grabbed two of the empty tanks and threw them in the back of the Leaf and headed to the gas station. I pull in a larger busy gas station and stop at a pump and get out. I notice a guy walking out of the store just staring at me and stops and keeps staring, I was thinking, do I know him, whats up? Then I notice he starts to walk over to me as I open the hatch and start to take out the gas tanks. Then I see him start to smile and he get close enough and justs says "Ahhhh, I thought I was going to have to explain to you can't put gas in a Leaf", still smiling, and says "I see what your doing now." He smiled and told me his other car was a Leaf and he loves it. We chatted about the cars and he said he was adding a Model 3 in a week or two.
 
No one has ever asked me anything about my Leaf after 5 years... It is like a non-topic to most people. I wonder how many even realize that it is not a gas car.
 
By far the most common; "so it "really" doesn't use "any" gas at all?

How far will it go?

What do you do if your battery goes dead?

How cheap is it really to operate?

Do you feel at all guilty about filling up the landfills with "poisonous" batteries?

How often do you have to replace the batteries?

I am seeing these all over the place now, how much does it cost to charge here? (mostly at DCFCs somewhere)
 
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