I usually tell this story: I know someone whose deal-breaker purchasing decision for his new car is always whether it can tow his boat.... The boat he has to tow... *maybe* once a year when he pulls it out of the water [sometimes he has someone else do it]. So, he buys a big SUV and commutes to work in it by himself nearly 260 days a year getting terrible gas mileage - because of something he typically needs to do on *one* day.
Why couldn't he just rent a truck that day? Perhaps pay the marina to do it?
So, I make the same argument for EVs (I've barely owned my Leaf for a week but it's partly how I justified it to myself). For 95% of the driving I do, the Leaf will fit me perfectly and I like to encourage trends I believe in - even paying 'extra' for that. The times that it won't work for me? My wife and I can drive her ICE car, or if we want to take a long road trip in a really comfortable car? We can just rent one.
I'm not sure it'll work for everyone - but for me, it was a helpful justification. Right before I bought the Leaf I kept finding myself thinking 'what if this, or what if that...' and in each case the answer was to either drive the other car, or rent one.
I'm not sure arguing cost of electricity vs gas is ever a good one - an EV is easily $10k more than a comparable ICE - even with free charging stations - it'll be tough to ever make that money back.
Of course, many people assume that's the only reason anyone would ever own a vehicle like this (people liked to tell me how 'expensive' my Prius was when I bought my first one in '02 - but fuel cost wasn't reason I bought it, or the Leaf). So like other threads about this topic - if people fixate on never making back that money - just ask them if they did the equivalent costing for the car they drive.... So, why aren't you driving a cheap used car? Why not a cheap Scion? You'll never make back the $30k extra you paid over a cheap, reliable, fuel-efficient car that gets you from point A to point B. I guess if you want to hard sell people you might be able to convince them how much cheaper the vehicle is over an ICE because the MPGe is so much better but if cost is really a factor - it won't take them long to figure out it's not a winning proposition.
I just think it's a great thing to throw out as a way of saying, yes, it's more expensive and you're paying a bit more for that because it's so new, you're an early adopter, but even with that, because your 'gas' is either free (because of subsidies or early adopter encouragement) or very cheap, the extra cost really isn't as high as it may seem.
Beyond that, I might also try to describe the 'driving zen' you experience in eco mode in a super quiet EV. It's interesting how I'll actually start to feel slightly agitated when I turn off ECO - how it makes me want to go go go - I can feel my agitation rise. Turn on eco - and it's just soooo relaxing to drive. My wife drove it for the first time the other day and pointed it out on her own - pointing out how incredibly calming it was to drive the car. When I want to zoom around like a madman I can ride my motorcycle but this is the first car I've commuted in that I actually LIKED commuting in.
Oh, and the around view monitor is AWESOME. Major geek points for that one.
