Adding ELECTRIC to your Leaf

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Randy

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 22, 2010
Messages
2,175
Location
San Diego, CA
Several forum Leaf owners have done this modification, but I'm not sure it has a thread of its own yet....We'll take care of that!

There is a person on eBay who is selling chrome letters that spell "ELECTRIC". You can use these letters to add to your Leaf and make a bold statement. Perhaps a little easier to understand than Zero Emission....The links are below, he sells two versions, separate letters or pre-spaced on a piece of tape....I bought the separate letters...

I thought about where to put it, and decided on the rear hatch. With the Leaf letters on the left and the Zero emission badge on the right, I thought it would look a little crowded if I added a third thing. So I decided to remove the Zero emission badge and put my ELECTRIC letters there on the right side...The choice is yours....

First, I used a piece of string to remove the zero emission badge by sawing up and down underneath from the right side of the emblem. It came off in about 30 seconds; the adhesive is very thick and pliable. I removed the adhesive residue left behind on the car by picking it off with my fingers first and then lightly swabbing the remaining residue with rubbing alcohol. Then I used some liquid car cleaner and ultimately some wax and elbow grease to ensure that the surface was good and smooth/clean.

Then I ran a piece of blue masking tape from underneath the left side of the rear hatch where the LEAF letters are and carried the tape all the way over to the right side, making sure that it was reasonably level and even. Then I started to apply the ELECTRIC letters one at a time, starting from the right side working backwards and watching the spacing. Be careful of the "I" letter, as it's easy to not leave enough space on either side of it. The letters have a peel-off backing that is easy to remove with your nail.

Once all the letters were in place, I pressed on them for good measure and then gently peeled the masking tape off the rear hatch...

Voila! Now my Leaf is ELECTRIC....

I hope this is of interest to our Leafers.....RedRandy

If you have the letters installed, please post a photo below so others can see the location and how it turned out...

Separate letters ($15 + shipping):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320671204318&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT

One piece, ready to apply ($25 plus shipping):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ELECTRIC-Easy-apply-Car-Emblem-/320674723304?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4aa9b3f5e8

electric1.jpg


electric.jpg


rear.jpg
 
I bought the one piece version simply to make it a little easier to install (and not trusting my ability to get all the letters even and straight).

I haven't installed it yet but I rather like this idea of replacing the Zero Emission emblem. One other thought I had earlier, again because it is a little cramped, was to place the Electric emblem a little lower than the other two and in the center. I taped it on and it looks pretty good that way as well.
 
Randy said:
I thought about where to put it, and decided on the rear hatch. With the Leaf on the left and the Zero emission badge on the right, it would look a little crowded if I added a third thing. So I decided to remove the Zero emission badge and put my ELECTRIC letters there on the right side...The choice is yours....


I was totally going to do this! You beat me to it. :lol:
 
mwalsh said:
Randy said:
I thought about where to put it, and decided on the rear hatch. With the Leaf on the left and the Zero emission badge on the right, it would look a little crowded if I added a third thing. So I decided to remove the Zero emission badge and put my ELECTRIC letters there on the right side...The choice is yours....


I was totally going to do this! You beat me to it. :lol:


I ordered the emblem about a month ago, just need the car, I am going to put it on the right side also. Fast shipping, 2 days!
 
One little flash of "Brilliance" I had was to not spell ELECTRIC correctly, but just use the same letters as my license plate....I ultimately decided not to do that, but I'm sure other letters are available if you want to spell something different....
 
Very nice!, maybe it was not a good idea to wax prior to sticking the letters on. I cant tell from the pictures, are they chrome letters or decals?
 
What about locating it up on the rear window a couple inches below the spoiler. Centered with third stop lamp might be nice and make it harder to notice the slightly different font.
 
mwalsh said:
Randy said:
I thought about where to put it, and decided on the rear hatch. With the Leaf on the left and the Zero emission badge on the right, it would look a little crowded if I added a third thing. So I decided to remove the Zero emission badge and put my ELECTRIC letters there on the right side...The choice is yours....


I was totally going to do this! You beat me to it. :lol:
I'd like to remove the Zero emission emblem simply to modify it to say Zero Gas. It's technically more accurate.
 
hill said:
I'd like to remove the Zero emission emblem simply to modify it to say Zero Gas. It's technically more accurate.

Well.. some oil does get used generating electricity, diesel engines at the nuclear plants, grease in the bearings etc :geek:
 
Since I like to support local businesses, I'd go to a local place that makes custom stick-on lettering. For both the Xebra and the EV Porsche they made me lettering that says "ALL ELECTRIC ALL THE TIME," since with just "electric" people kept asking if the car was a hybrid! They have pages and pages of fonts, and they applied the lettering for me, since I'd have gotten it on crooked.

I got black vinyl, but they have all sorts, including chrome-look. Not sure if they can do actual chrome, but it would not surprise me. I'll wait and see what's on the Leaf and then decide if I want to add something, maybe the same as on the other cars.

I can pretty much guarantee that if you have just "ELECTRIC" on the car, people will ask if it's a hybrid. Unless they know what the Leaf is, you'll have to tell them that it never uses gas.
 
Hi Daniel,
Just to clarify, the letters from eBay are 3-dimensional (chrome-covered plastic) like the "Leaf" badging on the rear of the car (not vinyl or cutout letters). It's a slightly different font than "Leaf", but it's not really noticeable when they're separated a bit.

If you have a local business that sells letters like that, it would be interesting to see what people can come up with for a good Leaf-oriented slogan or badge...

Randy
 
Randy said:
Hi Daniel,
Just to clarify, the letters from eBay are 3-dimensional (chrome-covered plastic) like the "Leaf" badging on the rear of the car (not vinyl or cutout letters).
Yes, I understand that. I think this outfit might have that also. But I'm not going to bother finding out until I have the car and decide what I want on it, if anything. As I said, I think the "electric" badge will confuse most non-Leaf-aware observers, who have finally become aware of what a gas-electric hybrid is, but are confused by the idea that a car could be fully electric. In 5 years or so they might start to catch on.
 
I'd want it to say "100% Electric".

Just trying to find a UK supplier.

I found this one: http://www.chromstadt.de/catalog/index.php?cPath=26 but they don't seem to have the '%' sign. :|
 
It took Toyota a couple years to explain that the Prius did NOT need to be plugged in. The regular civilians will be confused for awhile for sure.
 
TRONZ said:
It took Toyota a couple years to explain that the Prius did NOT need to be plugged in. The regular civilians will be confused for awhile for sure.
Exactly the problem! I spent years telling people I did not plug in my Prius, only now to have spent several years again telling people I never put gas in the Xebra.
 
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