OlyWa LEAF Pile

[rdhauser]

Our local Nissan Dealer here in Olympia hosted a nice gathering Sunday. We had something more than 10 LEAFs piled up and several expectant owners. Just swapped stories for a few hours and then rounded them up for a photo opp. I’ll send the landscape version if the LEAFer that took the pictures is able to knit the various frames together, but here is an iPod shot:

I didn’t hear any stories of clamity, but I heard a lot of range anxiety tales. One owner boasted getting 120 miles on a charge (just around town over a period of time) before he lost his nerve and plugged in. DaveinOlywa had to work, but we’re hoping he can get to the next pile.

There is an active group of “eco” contractors in town, and an employee of one (who is also an expectant owner) showed up to recruit for a tour next weekend. He is going to show solar installations (and such) at business and homes in the south sound region. He was asking that current owners volunteer to park their cars at several homes on the tour where the solar panels can supplement or offset charging for the cars. I might just do that.

 

[ElectricVehicle]

Our local Nissan Dealer here in Olympia hosted a nice gathering Sunday. We had something more than 10 LEAFs piled up and several expectant owners. Just swapped stories for a few hours and then rounded them up for a photo opp. I’ll send the landscape version if the LEAFer that took the pictures is able to knit the various frames together, but here is an iPod shot:

I didn’t hear any stories of clamity, but I heard a lot of range anxiety tales. One owner boasted getting 120 miles on a charge (just around town over a period of time) before he lost his nerve and plugged in. DaveinOlywa had to work, but we’re hoping he can get to the next pile.

There is an active group of “eco” contractors in town, and an employee of one (who is also an expectant owner) showed up to recruit for a tour next weekend. He is going to show solar installations (and such) at business and homes in the south sound region. He was asking that current owners volunteer to park their cars at several homes on the tour where the solar panels can supplement or offset charging for the cars. I might just do that.

Definitely get a LEAF at each of the Solar home tours / demos if you can! It really is a kind of full circle connection. Solar powering the house is way cool, but if you didn't have the solar the power would still come from the power plant, and it the plant is non-renewable, the emissions are far removed from home ... though they drift there anyway, you can't see the smokestack.

Solar + EV = True Zero Emissions Vehicle (TZEV)

No emissions form the Solar Electric on the house making the electricity. No emissions from the Electric Vehicle where we live, work, play and our children go to school.

Give them the realistic picture of what the vehicle can and can't do and the unique electirc advantages - smooth, quiet, powerful, fast - oh and did I mention ZERO emissions when charged from renewables like PV on the house. I'd guess you may do better than 1 new LEAF owner for every 20 of these EVents. You just need to let people see what's possible and lay out the dots for them to make the Eureka! connections!

Make it coordinated activity of your local LEAF group, so the time, effort and joy of meeting new potential LEAF people (sprouts?) is spread across people instead of burning one person out. I've hosted solar home tours myself with my GM EV1 from 1999.

 

[garygid]

Great that you are having some good times together in your "pile". Getting visibility out in the community is also a very worthwhile activity.

Perhaps of interest to you-all:
I hesitated to use the leaf-type "pile" word with our LEAFs, not wanting to recall an EV1 type "pile" or the "pile-up" that could happen to cars on a freeway.

So, I went with "Gathering" for that many LEAFs, "Cluster" for just a few, and "Branch of LEAFs" for more, with "Bushel of LEAFs" for the 40 or 50 that the SF meetings attract.

Then, there is "Tree of LEAFs" (filling a drive-in), and "Forest of LEAFs" (like those clogged up at Nissan's LA Port of Entry some months ago).

But, just my thoughts!
Cheers, Gary