EV Hostility?

[Graffi]

So far I have not gotten any hostility for either our 2013 Leaf with 50,000 miles when it was totaled, nor our 4 month old Tesla S with over 14,000 miles. We do get lots of positive response and questions about the Leaf and now the Model S.

On a side note, this past Saturday morning we were going to visit my mother-in-law and as we were on the freeway on-ramp (two regular lanes and one car-pool lane that we were in) a Dodge Charger that was waiting next to us at the light burned rubber on the ramp (long ramp with fairly steep incline), I think so he could show us up. Anyway, after he passed us I decided to also floor it and quickly passed him without burning any rubber. I was way ahead of him when I had to slow down to join the freeway traffic. Not sure if he was upset with me, but he did learn a lesson.

 

[Struja]

I popped over to the Model S forum from the Model 3 forum to ask a question to all you Tesla owners. Other than being ICE'd at a charging station, have you experienced any hostility because you are driving an EV?

Thanks for any feedback you can provide.

I was in Michigan about a month ago charging my car at a Meijer when a guy yelled at me..."keep buying foreign you a-hole". I laughed so hard I could barely contain myself. It still makes me chuckle today.

I'm not sure if he was mad that it was electric or "foreign".

 

[brkaus]

I was in Michigan about a month ago charging my car at a Meijer when a guy yelled at me..."keep buying foreign you a-hole". I laughed so hard I could barely contain myself. It still makes me chuckle today.

I'm not sure if he was mad that it was electric or "foreign".

California might be considered foreign?

 

[croman]

California might be considered foreign?

God help us, it will be after the second Civil War (aka The War of Progressive Aggression).

To OP: Owned a leaf for over 3 years and an S for almost 1. Been coal rolled twice on the way back from the eclipse in downstate IL. IL has "EL" electric vehicle plates (number of electric car registered + EL). So my LEAF is in the 1900s EL and my S is 5000s EL. So you can immediately tell who is the earliest of the early adopters and that they own an BEV (so i3 owners with Rex do not qualify -- they get regular plates like the other Plug in hybrids/ICE).

No one was overtly hostile other than those large truck drivers emitting black plumes of toxins. Tons and tons of questions, particularly with the S (abject fawning at times from younger guys in particular). I am considering tinting my windows, not just for the heat protection, but also because the S attracts a lot of attention (unlike the leaf).

 

[xyeahtony]

I popped over to the Model S forum from the Model 3 forum to ask a question to all you Tesla owners. Other than being ICE'd at a charging station, have you experienced any hostility because you are driving an EV?

Thanks for any feedback you can provide.

i've had a few "muscle cars" try to challenge me at red lights. I usually end up smoking them because my ego is that high. And keep in mind i drive a plain "boring" RWD 75 lol.

 

[TrevTremaine]

Once, when traveling through Syracuse NY I thought I had a guy in a beat-up pickup who was going to go ballistic on me - then he gave me a thumbs up. I floored it briefly and he was ecstatic, clapping his hands in getting to see a Tesla.

Online, it's completely different. Being bunched into the sanctimonious, the self-serving, the show-offs, and other groups and generally put under the microscope for my decision to go with a Tesla. Not by everyone, mind you, but some just resist any changes, I think.

 

[arcus]

I've been coal rolled once (finally a chance to test bio-defense mode ).

Other than that, people are generally interested in learning more about the car. Tesla still seems to be relatively rare vehicle.

 

[Patrick W]

Being that I live in Utah (the reddest of the red states in the USA) I have a number of red (to those outside the US I'll add "red" means conservative) friends as well as those on the blue end of the spectrum. Almost to a person the "blues" have always been complimentary about my driving a green car (lots of colors in this post).

However, the few times I have heard negative comments like "coal burner" and the like, they have come from the reds. Sad but I've gotten used to it and usually direct them to this great Fully Charged video on the subject:

BTW, since we're talking custom plates, here is one I saw at a recent Drive electric event. By far the best Tesla plate I've seen on a non-Tesla vehicle.

 

[xyeahtony]

However, the few times I have heard negative comments like "coal burner" and the like, they have come from the reds.

The irony being that most coal miners and those in the coal industry vote red anyways. HRC lost most of the coal-producing states to DJT.

 

[Pinot.Noir]

I get super aggressive drivers tailgating and trying to get in front of me pretty much every day. Kinda weird. Never saw that in my prior pickup truck! It's really bad on the 580 through Oakland.

 

[SeminoleFSU]

Most folks give me a thumbs up if they recognize the car. However, I have had at least two instances of folks presenting me with another digit over the course of the last year. I don't have any idea why, though I speculate that perhaps, since I am in oil country, that that may have something to do with it. As far as I know, I had not done anything else to irritate them. Two of the three times, it was a large pickup truck, but that may just be co-incidence.

It's because people:
1) Think Elon and his various companies have been very subsidized by their tax dollars so they don't like the idea of helping us pay for our $100k cars... particularly in light of the fact that our car could have been more expensive than their house (or 2+ of their family's cars)... As a free market guy, I agree with this subsidization sentiment. Tesla shouldn't get any incentives. But then again, neither should ANY other car manufacturer (or any company... ever) for that matter which of course is not the case.
2) People see Tesla drivers as ALL being "on the left" politically, so you may be getting that digit from so-called conservatives or Republicans, although as a Libertarian I feel sorry for those stuck in the trap of the two (one party) scam's mindset.
3) People equate drivers of Teslas as people who all believe in global warming. I'm on the fence but feel that the reduced pollution from the tailpipe can help air quality in general. I do see carbon credits as a scam, although humans do contribute to pollution of the planet.
4) People hear that Teslas are more harmful for the environment (total environmental footprint) than a typical ICE. I think a lot of this is BS, but many folks don't sit down and think basically just believing anything their TVs tell them.

There are a few others that I could throw out there but #'s 1, 2, & 3 are probably 90+% of the "hostility" you may feel. Just my $.02

 

[Yggdrasill]

A few kids were standing by the road in a rural area, and one of them shouted "dildo" so loud I could hear it in the car. That's about it.

(I don't know if you have this phenomenon in the US, but some haters here in Norway say EVs run on "dildo fuel", being battery powered. )

 

[kort677]

is anyone really so fragile that they are so affected by other people's reaction to the car that you drive?

 

[SeminoleFSU]

is anyone really so fragile that they are so affected by other people's reaction to the car that you drive?

With all the SJW nonsense in the news you don't know the answer to that question already?

 

[_jal_]

I've never driven a car that attracts anywhere close to the amount of attention my MS does. I remember when my 10 year old daughter just said out of the blue one day "Everyone looks at your car, Dad." It's actually over the top.

Once I remember a Jeep Cherokee gunning it and trying to overtake me, cut me off, and prevent me from merging. I just sort of goosed it and easily beat him, and boy, was he pissed! Absolutely hopping mad!!

Overall, like everyone, I get gobs of questions and compliments, but I totally did not expect the negative reactions it provokes in some people. I've got a lot of friends who are "car people" and I'd have to say that on balance the opinion is that the Tesla isn't a "real car." I think it could be the way sophomoric painters could think that photographers aren't real artists. It seems like part of a car being great is the way that the manufacturer solves a lot of problems that the Tesla doesn't even have. For instance, how do you evaluate the Tesla in the argument over can real cars have superchargers or do they have to be naturally aspirated?

Aside from it not being a real car, I have taken some static over the believe that the whole thing is built on the tax credits. And believe it or not I know one guy whose father was a car dealer and he despises the direct sale model! A vampire defending his baby-eating practice would probably get more traction with me than that guy got with his argument.

In the end, people are SO misinformed about them. I sat in the carwash next to a guy who was telling me **telling me** that my car had a backup gas engine. The list goes on and on. It might not be a real car, but it is real fun

 

[Joetnr1]

Nah but get ready for literally every Ford Mustang to try and fly off the line next to you.

 

[kort677]

Nah but get ready for literally every Ford Mustang to try and fly off the line next to you.

and if they do, do you feel the need to defend the honor of tesla?

 

[Chopr147]

I usually end up smoking them because my ego is that high.

and if they do, do you feel the need to defend the honor of tesla?

Yes, yes I do! Not because I feel a need to defend Tesla. No, just because I am that immature. Some of us never grow up

 

[iffatall]

I am from India, and when my parents were visiting me from over there, we made a trip to Grand Canyon. After an overnight stop at Kingman, AZ, when we were just putting luggage in the car at the hotel early morning, someone came over and started a conversation with my father. I was not there when the conversation started, but I just caught the last part when he said something like "you guys are very green" very sarcastically. I didn't really look at it as hostility, but the sarcastic tone was unmistakable.
My father told me later he asked him about how I got into US; why my school was paying me when I was doing my PhD in New York instead of the other way around. He also asked if we were Muslims .

 

[arcus]

I am from India, and when my parents were visiting me from over there, we made a trip to Grand Canyon. After an overnight stop at Kingman, AZ, when we were just putting luggage in the car at the hotel early morning, someone came over and started a conversation with my father. I was not there when the conversation started, but I just caught the last part when he said something like "you guys are very green" very sarcastically. I didn't really look at it as hostility, but the sarcastic tone was unmistakable.
My father told me later he asked him about how I got into US; why my school was paying me when I was doing my PhD in New York instead of the other way around. He also asked if we were Muslims .

Sorry to hear about your experience. This is wrong on so many levels!