How do you answer the really stupid questions that you get?

[DanCar]

Still my all time favorite, frequently asked: "Why don't they make it so it charges while you drive?"

I expect they will someday when electric cars are more popular. Probably have some infrastructure for charging on the freeways. 10+ years away.

 

[Nubo]

If someone is irrationally opposed or appears to have an axe to grind, I simply say "well... they're not for everyone". Ends the arguing but they're left facing the apparent fact that it is working for *someone*. It's not necessarily my words that are going to sway them. It's seeing more and more of them on the roads and in the hands of increasing numbers of friends and relatives.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I got a partially stupid question this evening, from some one asking me to sign a petition to allow him to have chickens in his yard. "I see you got a plug for your car. How is that working out?" As if you can just plug any car into an EVSE...

 

[cgaydos]

If someone is irrationally opposed or appears to have an axe to grind, I simply say "well... they're not for everyone". Ends the arguing but they're left facing the apparent fact that it is working for *someone*. It's not necessarily my words that are going to sway them. It's seeing more and more of them on the roads and in the hands of increasing numbers of friends and relatives.

My standard reply starts with how much the kids like driving the LEAF and how much money we're saving. From there I mostly focus on the money angle - it's very hard for anyone to argue with that. If the questioner is generally interested in an EV the questions then move to practical stuff like charging and tax credits and maybe drive-ability. If the questioner is EV-hostile the money angle pretty much defuses them, although sometimes they press on battery degradation or anti-EV myths they've heard.

I've never once had anyone who asked me about a LEAF bring up the topic of the environment.

 

[RonDawg]

How about asking a stupid question about their gasoline car:

Q: How do you avoid stopping at the gas station with your gasoline car?

I actually get a kick out of people's reactions when they see me pulling into a gas station with my Leaf. But it's to use the convenience store or the car wash, and of course to not get gas.

 

[smkettner]

My LEAF was NEVER once at a gas station establishment. I would go out of my way as needed to avoid any gas station.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

This happens more often than I expected...

I got my Leaf a few weeks ago. It's been an awesome experience. When I drive my ICE car, it just feels so primitive, loud, dirty, etc...and my ICE car happens to be a $100k+ luxury car and it still feels like that. I much prefer driving the Leaf.

So when I talk about my excitement with others, I get the same stupid questions over and over again.

Q: But how can I drive from San Francisco and drive down to San Diego?

my response is "I take HALF the money saved from not buying gas to rent a car for the trip but only because I want to make sure I have enough money left over for dinner"

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

My LEAF was NEVER once at a gas station establishment. I would go out of my way as needed to avoid any gas station.

hard to do that around here since a LOT of the chargers are at gas stations

 

[dgpcolorado]

My LEAF was NEVER once at a gas station establishment. I would go out of my way as needed to avoid any gas station.

I stopped at the local gas station last fall to buy 0.4 gallons of gas for my chainsaw. And I've stopped at a Safeway gas station to clean my windshield (bugs) before shopping.

But all those discount gas credits from grocery stores? I never get to use them. I last bought gas for my ICE car in December!

 

[Nubo]

My LEAF was NEVER once at a gas station establishment. I would go out of my way as needed to avoid any gas station.

We did stop at a gas station once because my wife wanted a cold drink. It felt surreal. Maybe like walking into a horse carriage shop in 1905 or so. Everything inside the shop seemed to be going along quite normally and purposefully. Yet....

 

[GregH]

Sometimes you need to stop at a gas station to wash the windows..

I love that my Leaf has a little solar panel on the back.. I know it just trickle charges the 12V, but I like to think Nissan put it there so that when folks say stuff like "they should cover the roof with solar panels then you wouldn't need to plug in"... I can just point to the solar panel

Solved.

Seriously though, back in the EV1 days we actually printed up FAQs on business cards to hand out with the common range and charging questions..

 

[cgaydos]

Sometimes you need to stop at a gas station to wash the windows..

(Virtually) all convenience stores are also gas stations in our part of the world, so we do show-up occasionally. Last weekend my snow tires - a new replacement - developed a valve leak and I had to stop by a series of gas stations to top up the air in the tire before I got it to the tire dealer. (Downside of no spare tire - and no I wasn't going to use the goop and destroy the tire monitor.)

 

[thankyouOB]

My partner kissed me this AM while I was in the LEAF getting ready to drive off to work.
I had told her about this discussion and our wondering how the rest of the country answers:
"Do you like buying gas?"

After asking me about how goes our battery degradation, she said: "WIth solar on the roof, having a LEAF is a no-brainer."

 

[RVD]

lol i went to the gas station for the first time after buying my leaf this past week to get a car wash. it felt a little weird. it sort of felt like i was at a place where i don't belong.

this week i had a conversation with a guy who said that he would never buy a leaf because of the limited range. he said that he bikes to work about 1/2 the time and he just drives the other half. he also said that he needs a 4wd car to go off roading.

this is a single guy who has 2 cars right now...a vw tdi (diesel) and a honda element that he bought to go camping. he wants to sell the element and buy a 4 runner (he used to have one but sold it a few years ago). in his mind, the tdi is "basically the same thing" as my ev.

in this case, i don't necessarily think that he should sell both cars so that he can buy a 4 runner + leaf but that wasn't his reasoning. his reasoning was still based on range.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Speaking of stupidity somebody through this one at me:

http://themindunleashed.org/2014/04/volkswagens-new-300-mpg-car-allowed-america-efficient.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[ksnogas2112]

When confronted with the hardheads, i usually employ this line:
Do you like buying gas?

Unfortunately I had a woman in my office who actually tried to convince me she was serious when she said that to me last year. She claims she actually does like buying gas.

When I talk to people about the leaf range I just tell them it's like living on a 1/4 tank of gas. Doesn't matter if it's a 18 gallon F150 or a 10 gallon Escort people can comprehend living on a 1/4 tank and their range.


@RVD--I take my Leaf camping all the time. Holds everything my boys and I need for a weekend.

 

[jelloslug]

Speaking of stupidity somebody through this one at me:

http://themindunleashed.org/2014/04/volkswagens-new-300-mpg-car-allowed-america-efficient.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I also love the people that seem to love the Jetta TDI BlueMotion 1.8 that is not sold in the US. They rave about the 68 average MPG that it's rated in the UK but fail to notice that:
1. Euro MPG ratings are wildly optimistic (15 to 20% higher than EPA ratings for the same car)
2. UK gallons are 1.2 times larger than US gallons leading to bigger MPG ratings
3. Diesel costs 10 to 15% more in the us than regular unleaded
4. The 1.8 TDI is about 2 seconds slower than a Prius in the 0-60

The bottom line is that if VW were to sell the Jetta TDI BlueMotion in the US it would end up getting less MPG than a Prius, cost more, and be slower.

 

[thankyouOB]

When confronted with the hardheads, i usually employ this line:
Do you like buying gas?

Unfortunately I had a woman in my office who actually tried to convince me she was serious when she said that to me last year. She claims she actually does like buying gas.

When I talk to people about the leaf range I just tell them it's like living on a 1/4 tank of gas. Doesn't matter if it's a 18 gallon F150 or a 10 gallon Escort people can comprehend living on a 1/4 tank and their range.


@RVD--I take my Leaf camping all the time. Holds everything my boys and I need for a weekend.

she can buy the gas for my audi, ( the second car).

 

[TomT]

When I was recently in Europe we rented a diesel hybrid... Am amazingly fun car to drive with good performance, and over 2,000 miles we averaged a trip total of 97 mpg pushing it pretty hard... It had a 15 gallon tank so I think we fulled up twice...

The bottom line is that if VW were to sell the Jetta TDI BlueMotion in the US it would end up getting less MPG than a Prius, cost more, and be slower.

 

[TomT]

When contemplating stupid questions asked of you about the Leaf, never loose sight of the fact that the mean IQ is 100...