Shout out to the loonbat in Nissan Leaf at S. Mimms

[supermono]

Went to plug in over the weekend and asked because I wasn't sure if he was coming or going. To be honest I'm not sure he knew either lol.

Normally the only time I talk to a car stranger is when I rock up in the GT2 next to a brother (or ideally sister) in an interesting car but now I'm talking to the plug in brigade.

Are you all weirdos or was I just lucky?

[Doshy]

Some of us are normal (ish)

[LordFlathead]

Having actually thought about this (I'm collecting on Saturday) here is a list of possible opening conversations, much you might find scripted in a foreign phrasebook:

Starting with, "Hi, do you speak EV?" Followed up by one of the following;

• Are you going to be long? I desperate to get on it.
• Are you nearly finished?
• Wow that's a long/thick one, mine is much shorter.
• Do you come here often?
• It beats queueing at a petrol station doesn't it? (Probably doesn't!)
• That's a nice gold tissue box holder on your parcel shelf
• Can't believe it's working
• Can' believe it's free
• Do you know who owns the PHEV that has been hogging the charger for 4 hours? I can't get home!
• Oh no this charger has a £1.50 admin charge!
• Do I have to actually pay to use this charger??!
• Is this the right plug to go in here?
• I can't open my flap
• I cannot release the cable
• What price are the sausage rolls? In (insert other location) they are 50p cheaper

etc

[Don]

supermono said:

Went to plug in over the weekend and asked because I wasn't sure if he was coming or going. To be honest I'm not sure he knew either lol.

Normally the only time I talk to a car stranger is when I rock up in the GT2 next to a brother (or ideally sister) in an interesting car but now I'm talking to the plug in brigade.

Are you all weirdos or was I just lucky?

Leaf owners chat much like TVR owners used to (still do) upon parking near one another. Lets face it: A Leaf is a pretty quirky and rare choice of car in the grand scheme of things and owners are likely to be enthusiasts.

I'll bet Tesla owners chat, too.

[mids]

supermono said:

Are you all weirdos or was I just lucky?

On the whole I've been disappointed with the 'typical' EV owner. I started off super-enthusiastic but not any more. Some of the most irritating threads I've ever read have been on the SpeakEV forum (and as a long term PH'er that says a lot, heh), so many whingers on there complaining about the most trivial things. In fact I've stopped visiting and don't even bother with the i3 forums/groups too much any more. I have a pet theory about why this is so but I'm keeping it to myself as if I explained it I'd probably p*ss off the majority of people in here too

[supermono]

Hah good replies

I met another fellow over the break who was stuck at South Mimms and he seemed fairly normal, sadly the post was locked out thinking it was already charging something else and without that person's card it couldn't reset. He was making the trip to Birchanger but wasn't sure if he'd make it.

Then last night some bloke wandered up and seemed genuinely interested in the whole caper and we chatted for a short while about it -- fortunately it didn't transpire that I was cynical and using the whole setup as a means of getting a cheap subsidised company car, because I suspect he was a military grade greenie.

[trowelhead]

LordFlathead said:

Having actually thought about this (I'm collecting on Saturday) here is a list of possible opening conversations, much you might find scripted in a foreign phrasebook:

Starting with, "Hi, do you speak EV?" Followed up by one of the following;

• Are you going to be long? I desperate to get on it.
• Are you nearly finished?
• Wow that's a long/thick one, mine is much shorter.
• Do you come here often?
• It beats queueing at a petrol station doesn't it? (Probably doesn't!)
• That's a nice gold tissue box holder on your parcel shelf
• Can't believe it's working
• Can' believe it's free
• Do you know who owns the PHEV that has been hogging the charger for 4 hours? I can't get home!
• Oh no this charger has a £1.50 admin charge!
• Do I have to actually pay to use this charger??!
• Is this the right plug to go in here?
• I can't open my flap
• I cannot release the cable
• What price are the sausage rolls? In (insert other location) they are 50p cheaper

etc

Superb!

[trowelhead]

Most EVers I've met have been really helpful showing me how to use the chargers etc when I was new to the ev game.

I have met a couple of nerdy/boffin types in leafs before I'll grant you that but always friendly!

I feel that there is a shared respect in a "were in this together" sort of way

I've never had a car get so much attention and questions though (this is an orange i3) people stop and ask me questions about it all the time.

Usually great fun, except on Xmas day, pouring down, late for meal with inlaws and can't get rapid charger to work! "How far will it go mate" etc. Trying to wrestle the DC cable while explaining the range extender ha ha.

[Dirty Sanchez]

I'm a month in to my EV 'experience'. I got my i3 as a company car to dodge the tax. I love the car and the novelty factor it has but I'd be lying if I said I was in it for the environment. Met a couple of leaf owning nerds so far but most seem fairly normal.

If you see a bloke having a Basil Fawlty branch waving fit at a charging point near you then come and say hi, it will probably be me at another non functioning bay!

[JonV8V]

Don said:

I'll bet Tesla owners chat, too.

I try not to as reading tesla forums half of them are Elon Musk fanboys who would excuse anything including a missing 250bhp (relevant on PH) and come out with "these seats, which were a 2.2k upgrade, are showing signs of wear after only 2 months of ownership but then we are early adopters' as if leather seats had never been made before. They also look down on most other EVs and on all ICE owners ('I smoked a Porsche yesterday...') . I suspect this is part of the reason we have our own charging points dotted around the country. I'd like to put myself in the other half.

I had an initial fear that any attractive female EV owners would have hairy arm pits and be vegan but happily that doesn't seem to be the case, but the only pulling conversation tends to revolve around current draw (as in 'how many Amps are you pulling'). 'How far do you go?' also takes on a whole new meaning I live in hope

It is fun watching people take unusual routes across car parks to check out what's going on although most 10 year olds seem to know more than their parents about the cars.

Lines that don't work for me..

Our cars have hooked up, why don't we?
Are you a big fan of electrical appliances?
Have you ever wondered how dangerous sitting on 90kw of electricity is driving though a flood?
I've got the biggest one they do (and then explain its not the fastest)