Head turner??

Now that several of us actually own a LEAF now, I wonder about your experiences with fellow drivers and pedestrians.

When you're parked at the store or at work, do people notice that you have an electric car and gather around to gawk and ask questions? Do other drivers recognize your car on the road for what it is?

Or, do people generally ignore the Leaf since it's not all that different in appearance from any other car? A lot of the time, people can get so caught up in their own life that they are not really aware of their surroundings anyway.

Any experiences, please share!

Unless you know what it is I really doubt anyone will notice, it's not exactly unique or a head turner. The average person won't know but people who seen ads or car/EV people will know what it is or notice. It's no Aptera

I have notice a few people having a good look and smiling, but would say the majority don't notice. I agree with EVDRIVER it's not Aptera! I had one of the first Smart Cars in SoCal and that drew unbelievable attention. There was a crowd around it every time I parked at the grocery store. The most common question I got was "Is it electric?"!

I've caught one driver taking a photo thus far. I've also noticed a few people behind me at traffic signals discussing the car, but I don't think it's so much that people know what it is - I did see one couple who appeared to be enthralled by the tail lamp design. Otherwise, nobody pays much attention...it's just another car. Which is sorta good on one hand, and not so much on the other.

But then, I have been rather distracted by conducting my experiments, so it's not like I'm really watching other drivers.

One blatant star and eventual wave and thumbs up while driving on I5.

Last night, in Trader Joes parking lot, a dad asked a lot of questions about the car. Probably precipitated by the fact that his entire family stepped right out in front of me (presumably) because they didn't hear me!! I parked a few spaces from where they were parked. (yes, the 'sound' was on at the time...it's VERY subtle)

Here, there are many who will step right out in front of anything, without even looking.

Yes, there are a (very) FEW that look both ways first.

How anemic ("subtle") is the LEAF's horn?

garygid said:

How anemic ("subtle") is the LEAF's horn?

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It's...uh...."pathetic" is too strong of a word.....

I'm seriously thinking of adding/replacing it with the hron from my BMW. THAT sucker gets your attention!!!

Jimmydreams said:

garygid said:

How anemic ("subtle") is the LEAF's horn?

Click to expand...

It's...uh...."pathetic" is too strong of a word.....

I'm seriously thinking of adding/replacing it with the hron from my BMW. THAT sucker gets your attention!!!

Click to expand...

NO train horns like others are doing?

I had a couple people gathered around it when I came out of the grocery store the other day. One of them said "it's so pretty!" And my neighbor who drives a Prius was gushing over it yesterday. But other than that, I haven't noticed anything.

EVDRIVER said:

NO train horns like others are doing?

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I didn't think of that. Hmmmmmm.... :twisted:

get one of these, this will get people attention...

http://wn.com/siren_(noisemaker)

Unfortunately, it sounds like the horn from a bottom of the line economy car. Mine will be getting a replacement asap when I get my car.

garygid said:

How anemic ("subtle") is the LEAF's horn?

Click to expand...

The LEAF will only turn the heads of people who are on this forum whining about Pending. It doesn't really stand out.

If your fantasies require you to polish nipple prints off the paint when you return from Safeway, you might have to dial it down a bit.

I thought everyone who has a Leaf was supposed to go around a gas station twice honking. That will turn some heads :twisted:

evnow said:

I thought everyone who has a Leaf was supposed to go around a gas station twice honking. That will turn some heads :twisted:

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You can always stop for some beef jerky or a lottery ticket.

Better, go to a "full service" gas station (if you can find one, that is), and tell them "fill it up", see how long they spend looking for the gas fill

It's not really head-turner out on the street. But jeez, at work! Everyone wants to know about it! The last couple of days, I've taken 3 carloads of people for spins and I've explained the price/incentives/charging so many times, I feel like I've got a speech memorized. And now they want me to write a post for our internal blog.

Is there a "water" spray for the rear window?

I was thinking of those that follow too closely.

malloryk said:

It's not really head-turner out on the street. But jeez, at work! Everyone wants to know about it! The last couple of days, I've taken 3 carloads of people for spins and I've explained the price/incentives/charging so many times, I feel like I've got a speech memorized.

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Same with our car - vigorous level of interest at work and in the neighborhood. Some of this interest is clearly academic rather than practical - people are very interested in a vicarious way but aren't going to take it any further than that...very similar behavior occurs when you put in PV solar. "It's so great that you are doing that! [but I can't quite bring myself to do something quite so dramatic]". People are getting mileage (oh, a pun!) out of simply knowing someone who has a LEAF. My sincere hope (and Nissan's I'm sure) is enough factors will come into play that more people will be able to see themselves in the driver's seat of their _own_ LEAF and actually make the leap. It will take time. We'll continue to evangelize as much as we can. $5 a gallon gas wouldn't hurt either.

garygid said:

Is there a "water" spray for the rear window?

Click to expand...

Yes, there is...push forward on the wiper stalk instead of pull, as you would for the front washers. Don't know if it works like the front and automatically generates a wipe or two, or if the rear wiper has to be in an operational position.