Ways to encourage others to buy electric cars?

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Burnrate

Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2018
Messages
5
What are some of your go to reasons you share with people to help encourage them to buy electric cars?

I usually talk about the positives of saving money and also avoiding the negatives of crazy amounts of local pollution (Particulate matter, Volatile Organic Compounds, Nitrogen oxides, Sulfur dioxide, Carbon monoxide, oil and junk dripping on the ground, other stuff probably).

The amount of pollution around us we have been taught to accept as being ok is just staggering.

I would love to be able to better encourage people to buy electric cars. With ones like the '18 and '19 Leaf having such a great range and a more mass appeal design (and lots of others) it is getting easier to tempt people. Some people don't want to because they are uncomfortable with unfamiliar things but just talking about it a lot helps with that (advertising works :p).

I would like to have a good elevator pitch when talking to people. Every person I could get to switch a car in my neighborhood would mean that much cleaner air and roads for my daughter (not to even mention global warming).

Thoughts?
 
Burnrate said:
What are some of your go to reasons you share with people to help encourage them to buy electric cars?

Depends on who I'm talking to.

12 cent (national average) per kWh is about $1.20 per gallon gasoline.

Electric cars just keep getting better. For the same cost, you can buy a 40kWh LEAF today that had a 30kWh battery last year, or a 24kWh battery in 2011. And next year a 60kWh battery. How good do they need to get before you are interested?

Convenient commuting, with never any stops at the gasoline station. Unless you need gum or something. The most boring car ever. Just get in and drive it. No oil changes, no tune ups. Plug in when you get home, unplug when you leave. Rotate tires, change wiper blades, fill windshield washing fluid...

Motorhead types and rural people, I talk about performance. Acceleration. Share videos of the White Zombie EV, or something from the Tesla racing channel. Or this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78KQhHZvsUQ

Or talk about Pike's Peak Hill Climb. Record now owned by an electric. Best video so far is this:

https://youtu.be/T6nYdHwgCIk

Or maybe these from practice runs.

https://youtu.be/fD3AniFTglM

https://youtu.be/zuL5HoQvrP4

Talk about the possibility of instant on, continuous torque at the tires traction limits. No shifts! Torque vectoring and more. Long term there is no way for a gasoline car to compete, especially as electric cars continue to improve. A hybrid, maybe. Porsche reclaimed the Nürburgring lap record for the modern full course (20,832 m) with a hybrid. (There are other distances for the 'ring, for example the GP course, 22,810 m, several shortened courses and such).
 
I would like to have a good elevator pitch when talking to people.

"Nice smooth elevator ride, huh? Imagine if this thing were powered by a gasoline or diesel engine over our heads. Yuck! So why do we carry those loud, smelly things around in our cars???" ;-)
 
WetEV said:
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Talk about the possibility of instant on, continuous torque at the tires traction limits. No shifts! Torque vectoring and more. ...

Worry about hills is one thing I hear a lot. People think something like a Leaf wouldn't be able to go up a 5 or 10% grade because it doesn't have the power. I don't have any hills around me but it is my understanding it would be able to do almost 50% grade (if the tires aren't slipping) and do it much easier than a gasoline car. It would still take a lot of power but it would be able to go up hills just fine.
 
Burnrate said:
WetEV said:
...
Talk about the possibility of instant on, continuous torque at the tires traction limits. No shifts! Torque vectoring and more. ...

Worry about hills is one thing I hear a lot. People think something like a Leaf wouldn't be able to go up a 5 or 10% grade because it doesn't have the power. I don't have any hills around me but it is my understanding it would be able to do almost 50% grade (if the tires aren't slipping) and do it much easier than a gasoline car. It would still take a lot of power but it would be able to go up hills just fine.

I've been up Hurricane Ridge. That's a mile of climbing in less than 20 miles of road. No problem. That's over 5% average, and some sections are rather steeper.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Olympic+National+Park+Visitor+Center/Hurricane+Ridge+Visitor+Center,+3002+Mt+Angeles+Rd,+Port+Angeles,+WA+98362
 
Depends on the audience. I prefer to let them pick which one(s) most appeal to them. In no particular order:

1. Home charging convenience.
2. Reduction of local air/water pollution.
3. GHG reductions.
4. Cost of operating.
5. National/Energy security (all energy generated in NA. See #9).
6. Possibility of grid independence.
7. Performance.
8. NVH (in some cases).
9. Can use clean energy from VRE.
 
I try to encourage people in general, but like others, it depends on the audience. I'm a poor bloke and those tend to be the people I hang out with the most. Because of that, we cannot afford them in the first place. The people that I do know who can afford one, I generally stress money they can save on gas. However, I'm also quick to point out that they need to be aware of some costs that they may not have considered and those are mainly cost of home EV charging point and the higher cost for automotive insurance (this fluctuates a bit obviously). I'd still love to go EV, but it just doesn't make financial sense for me given how economical my current car is and what it costs me to operate ;)
 
Agree with others, you've got to sell it to your audience:

Votes Blue:
-save the environment

Votes Red:
-national security
-get solar and BEV and stick it to the man/utility companies

Votes Perfomance:
-torque
-0-60mph
-low center of gravity to nail the curves
-new cool toy on the block

Everyone:
-no more gas stations, charge at home
-no more oil changes
-in general, very little maintenance
-depending on utility rates or if you have solar, low cost to charge
-quite ride (except don't tell the performance crowd this, no VROOM VROOM)
 
I 'd love an electric car but it just doesn't add up for me. I usually run the same ICE for 10-15 years in which time I carry out all the routine servicing, Big jobs like cam belt replacement is farmed out to a competent technician. I'm just not confident that any BEV would last the 250k plus miles that I would need for the way I want to use the car. :)
 
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