Leaf — Blog — David Smith

You've read the exposés in Forbes, Clean Fleet Report, VroomGirls and even a Fox affiliate. So you know.

EVs are cool. They're becoming affordable. They require practically no maintenance. Electricity is cheap fuel, even less than gas at $2 a gallon. Oh yeah, and no tailpipe emissions, so you're facing down global warming without sacrificing the convenience of a quick drive to Whole Foods for fair trade coffee.

Those are important reasons why you should consider an EV. But once you take the plunge, you discover six deeper truths why you and the rest of the EV clan live and breathe electric.

You feel like Sulu on the Enterprise. Once you feel the torque in an EV, you're hooked. It's eerily still inside as the roadside starts to swish by, like stars past a spaceship in warp drive. You can hear a futuristic electric whine, if you have the windows down. Even better, and I'm aware this is childish, but I like knowing I can beat anything off the line.
You become superior to Prius owners. Remember the feeling when you first saw a Prius? That confusing stew of repulsion and envy? As they proliferated, I felt environmentally sub-par in my Subaru, but I wasn't sure if I loved or hated the humpy hybrids. But now, at the helm of an EV, I am no longer conflicted. Each time I spot a Prius, I toss off comments like "fossil fuel freak" and "petrol junkie," much to my wife's bemusement. It feels good, even though I admit a few of my electrons are generated at a distant dinosaur-fueled power plant.
You entertain your friends with lots of geeked-out factoids that they will suspect they should know. My Leaf's dashboard--now that I've had a year to decode its mysteries--inspires a stream of scientific insights to share with my unfortunate co-passengers. "What, you don't know the difference between energy density and power density? Let me explain..."
You have a new ways to bond with your neighbors. As an EV owner, you enjoy new rituals at home. If you park outside, this is a chance to yell over the fence "Hi Jeff, how are you, just plugging in my electric car." Jeff will really enjoy all the little EV moments that you share, so do it frequently.
Your health improves as you wean yourself off of Slim Jims. When you zip right by the Mobile MegaMart, you are no longer tempted by the bargain-size pork rinds and frozen coffee shakes that once made the weekly fill-up tolerable.
You never, ever have to go through the SpiffyLube shakedown again. Face it, you KNOW when you go in for the $19.95 oil change that you will soon have to explain to the earnest mechanic why you (as an expert in automotive science) don't need that urgent $89 transmission fluid replacement. With an EV, there's no oil changes, no tune-ups, and no self-recrimination after forking over $25 to have a ten-cent light bulb replaced. I bet you're feeling relieved already.

So you see, owning an EV is as much about improving your daily life as it is doing good for your biosphere. If you're one of us, tell me more about your obsession with a comment below.