Entered auto show to display my Leaf SL

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
N

NhleafAngelo

New member
Joined
Oct 26, 2012
Messages
2
Just to let everyone know I entered my 2012 Leaf SL in an outdoor Motor Mania auto show this past weekend. I selected the Special Interest category to compete against modified hot rods and others. lots of people stopped by to ask about range and how long to charge. There were signs circled "No Gas" and 480 v and 110 220v signs taped under the ports.

We started 6 miles out of town then had an unofficial parade into the downtown ball park arena. About 60 cars including a 1914 Ford model T , no oil filters or carbs, mostly no maintenance ....just like the Leaf we agreed.

Had a great time explaining my story.


Still rare enough to do this again two weeks different show.


Angelo V. NH
 
Excellent! I just did the same thing here (2 other LEAF drivers joined me, pics here), joined a local hotrod show, and had great exposure. Plenty of folks interested, asking great questions, that's all that's needed to raise awareness! I even brought my new AeroVironment EVSE with me, since I hadn't installed it yet.

I learned a lot from the first show, and would like to do this again, bringing more posters, and maybe even a fake ChargePoint station.
 
We've taken our Leaf and Volt to a car show several times. Last time a Tesla was there which stole all of our thunder, though.
 
Yep, happens every time where there is a Tesla. Love the Tesla vehicles, but probably not a good idea to invite them if you want to expose people to vehicles that most of them can afford.
 
Meanwhile in Southern California, Cars And Coffee the weekly Saturday morning mega car love fest has essentially banned EVs and any kind of hybrid. This may be one of the largest informal gatherings of car nuts in the world, and I'd be willing to bet that it's the largest one that's held weekly, year round. Hundreds of cars are displayed each Saturday morning, and you'll see everything from Ferraris and Lambos to truly historic racing cars and iconic early sports cars. Sometimes they'll have a special section for a particular marque, like British sports cars of the 50s and 60s, or early Porsches.

A bunch of us took our LEAFs there in 2011, when the LEAF was semi-rare, and we got some good interest and we were well treated. I recently read on one of the BMW Facebook group pages that there was a sign saying "No Electric Cars". I went over to investigate one recent Saturday, and the informal honcho of the event confirmed that they will turn away any EV, including Teslas.

They say that they are already too crowded and too popular, with parking overflowing on most Saturdays, so they are feeling space constrained. Their primary mission statement is that they want to allow space for unusual and interesting cars that you won't see in the local supermarket parking lot, regardless of the car's price. I get that, but if one of the first Fiat 500 EVs showed up in electric orange paint, they'd probably turn it away.

I'd hazard a guess, though, that if one of the first BMW i8s or a Mercedes SLS EV showed up, they'd have no problems.

Kind of a bummer for me, as I enjoyed looking out for EVs when I went there. I see their policy as narrow minded, but hey, it's their event and they have a right to define it the way they want to. As the number of EVs grows, though, maybe we should start our own EV version. :D
 
Then it's time to start a new event in the parking lot next door, or whatever else is close ;) There is going to be a whole bunch of people in that area, might as well try to grab some of that attention.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top