My perspective on this conversation
I appreciate the frustration that Chronopublish describes in his blog post. This conversation is fascinating to me, and I'd like to share a different perspective.
I'm not in a financial position to own a Roadster, but my wife and I each have a reservation in for the Model S. In the meantime, I drive an electric MINI E and absolutely love it.
Living in Los Angeles, driving an electric car, odds are I would be an environmentally-conscious member of the political left. Instead, I am an avidly free-market libertarian. I'm what you would call an AGW "denier." I'd say “skeptic,” of course, and I'm fairly convinced the popular consensus on AGW is the result of incestuous and disingenuous behavior among the scientific sect that stands to reap generous research grants by towing the "company" (oh the irony) line.
Chronopublish is precisely correct that if you want to evangelize electric vehicles using tactics from the playbook of social responsibility, you are best served to play energy independence. It appeals to just about everyone. It appeals to me because I firmly believe in capitalism and the righteousness of earning income via hard work. Whether right or wrong, when imagining those wealthy oil tycoons in the Middle East reaping fantastic wealth from the circumstances of birth it stokes a mild resentment in those of us who work hard for our money.
Our political preferences are as much emotional as anything else. I freely admit that my politics are rooted in selfishness: looking out for myself. Several in this thread such as Bobw have offered great lists of points to make to interested strangers unfamiliar with electric vehicles. When someone asks me about my MINI E and I begin the “EVangelism,” my talking points are selfish matters:
1) Driving an electric car is absolutely amazing. There is no internal combustion engine vehicle that can match the immediate response to driver input an electric car offers. The shocking precision of accelerator-pedal input is something every driver will immediately love. Even the MINI E has what feels like a mountain of torque available on demand at scarcely a moment’s notice. I’ve only test-driven the Roadster and I know it has all of that and so much more.
2) Electric cars are mechanically simple. In the coming next-generation of electric vehicles that are not retrofits like the MINI E, mechanical complexity will plummet, meaning maintenance costs drop. Hate your mechanic? Yeah.
3) Charging my car has had absolutely no observable impact my electric bill. People don’t really know what to make of kilowatt hours or the cost per thereof. What they simply want to know is, “how much does it cost to run?” They love hearing that it’s so little that I can’t even perceive the impact when looking at the bills side-by-side.
4) You can completely laugh at gas stations. You’d be surprised how many people harbor a hidden but deep-seated hatred for gas stations. People chuckle when you point out that you can drive by gas stations, point at the poor suckers filling up their cars, and like Nelson from the Simpsons, let loose a robust “HA-HA!”
5) You can take sick pleasure in one-upping the snobbishness of Prius drivers. Here in Los Angeles, where the Prius outnumbers the BMW 3-Series (and that’s saying something!), those of us who love cars grow weary of seeing those Dustbusters at every stoplight. It’s crass, but you can’t dismiss the appeal of one-upping the snobs. If you deny it, you are kidding yourself, especially those of you driving Roadsters. You love having the coolest ride out there, with its awesome combination of performance and cleanliness. Hell, I envy you!
I drive the MINI E because I think electric-drive is a natural fit for automobiles. It makes internal combustion seem so decidedly low-tech. It makes hybrid drive seem like a pathetic misguided effort to eke out some measure of further utility from internal combustion. Simply put: I love technology and ICE is old news. As a side effect of driving an electric vehicle, I can laugh at that hybrid in the lane next to me and the self-righteous environmentalist I imagine is behind the wheel (I know, the stereotype is wrong, but don’t be a killjoy!).
I hope you all realize this is all very light-hearted jabbing at environmentalism. You would have to be a fool to not also appreciate the fact that electric vehicles emit less crud into the air. I absolutely love the cleanliness and silence of the MINI E. It has conditioned me to be disgusted by loud engines that emit clouds of nasty debris.
And who doesn't shed a tear to that new Nissan Leaf commercial with the polar bear?
But I don’t drive an electric vehicle because of that. That’s icing on the cake. The real reason I drive an electric vehicle is simple: it’s so damn cool.