What Comment/Question has taken you most aback?

[nwdiver]

I've gotten two questions about my car that I was unable to process.


Q: Is that car all electric?
A: Yes... it's all electric.
Q: Even the gas?
A: ..... WHAT? .... y-yes... even the gas.


Q: Is that car electric?
A: Yes
Q: Does it run ok at night?
A: What?... yes?

Sometimes I dispair for our species

 

[Krugerrand]

Wow, nwdiver, you can NOT make that stuff up. Were you talking to 'guests' at the local asylum?

 

[nwdiver]

I think that people generally have a very poor concept of energy... I could have added the guy that thought I couldn't have a very good stereo because it would use too much power... I've never heard a 10kW+ car stereo system and I probably don't want to. The "kid" probably ~20, that asked me if my car ran ok at night probably thought the headlights used too much power....

 

[Doug_G]

Putting groceries in my Roadster one day, a guy walks up and:
Q. You live near here?
A. Uh, yeah.
... Well that's a good thing.
Q. Uh, why is that?
A. So you'll be able to make it home!
... Would you like to race me to Montreal?

 

[johnnyS]

True story:
Parking lot attendant: That car is really quiet
Me: It is all electric
Attendant: At what speed does the engine start?
Me: There is no gas engine
Attendant: Can you drive it on the freeway?
Me: Yes, we just got back from a trip to San Francisco

I park and he walks over.
Attendant: That car looks really nice, what is it?
Me: It is a Tesla made here in California
Attendant: Do they make it somewhere in Europe?
Me: No in Fremont California, Fremont is between San Jose and Oakland
Attendant: Can I buy one?
Me: Yes

 

[ColinM]

True story:
Parking lot attendant: That car is really quiet
Me: It is all electric
Attendant: At what speed does the engine start?

These are just too funny. I might have been tempted to pop the frunk and say, "You know, I just can't seem to get the engine to start at any speed. Any idea what the problem could be?"

 

[kvietor]

These are just too funny. I might have been tempted to pop the frunk and say, "You know, I just can't seem to get the engine to start at any speed. Any idea what the problem could be?"

Google+
Tesla and "drivetrain" courtesy of Freddie Towers of Naples.

 

[Al Sherman]

Valet at fancy restaurant: Is that an Aston Martin?
Me: No, it's a Tesla Model S.
Valet: Who makes it?
Me: Tesla.
Valet: So it IS an Aston Martin?

My wife thought I was being weird but I tipped the guy and parked the car myself.

 

[NigelM]

Random guy: Is that a Tesla?
Me: Yes it is.
Random guy: Where do they build those?
Me: California.
Random guy: Wow, how did you get it to Florida?

 

[anthony]

Random guy outside a Chinese restaurant.

Is that an 8.5 liter?

 

[Lump]

DWP was replacing my water meter & shutoff valve at the curb yesterday, I took the kids to school in the morning & when I returned after 5 hours of "driving around" I walk over to see their progress...
DWP guy (with 23+ on the job) comments "that sure is a quiet Jag"
Me. I chuckle & explain its a Tesla & all electric.
DWP guy. puzzled & confused look on his face.
Me. I invite him into the garage & give him a tour.
DWP guy. "I had no idea you can power a car from solar panels on your roof"

 

[notailpipe2112]

#1 - guy in a parking lot, me with the frunk open - "Is that a Tesla? That car is amazing! I've always wanted to see what it is under the hood!'...me, 'there's nothing to see'.

#2 - guy behind desk in a store - "What kind of car is that again? One of my employees just saw you pull up and told me that car costs more than his house".

 

[NJ Plugin]

I was talking to two men about the car. The first guy asked good questions for about 5 minutes, then the second guy asks me "can the car go 60 MPH and go on the highway?"

 

[austinEV]

I had my model S for a few weeks, and went to carmax to sell my old car (a well-used 2003 Mazda 6). My mother was in town so she went with me to give my a ride back, in her rather crappy compact rental. The ~20 yr old woman who was doing my paperwork to buy my Mazda (about $4k worth, if you are wondering) asked me what my new car was. I said it was a Tesla model S. She looked up and looked at my mom's rental car, and back at the Mazda 6 paperwork and just smirked, like "yeah right".

 

[brandonmbeard]

I had the Model S sitting next to my crappy 2007 Pontiac G6. Neighbor comes up and I say check out my new toy, he proceeds to look at the Pontiac and says wow that nice, completely ignoring the Model S right next to her.

 

[ChadS]

Vendor from another booth as I was setting up the Roadster at an eco fair: Is that electric?
Me: Yes
Vendor: Yuk, I'll never buy one. Those are filthy polluters. Let me know when you have a water-powered car.

Passerby, seeing my Roadster at the end of a line of conversions, and thinking it was a converted Corvette: You ruined it!
Me: Uh, how?
Passerby: You made it slow and stupid.

One person in a large crowd surrounding my Roadster: What's it like driving a chick magnet?
Me: Unfortunately - as you can see (gesturing to the crowd) - it doesn't work. (The entire crowd was male)

Passerby, seeing my Model S: Too bad you can't make it to Portland in one of those.
Me: Actually, I've driven this to Portland several times.
Passerby: You must have hated all that time you wasted charging on the way down, eh?
Me: I can get there on one charge. I don't spend any time waiting.
Passerby: Oh. Um, it must really suck to have to slow down and not use the heater. Do you impede traffic?
Me: No, I just drive it normally. It's smooth and quiet, and very cheap to use electricity.
Passerby: Don't worry, the government will slap fees on there and you won't save money anymore!

Passerby in Wenatchee: Too bad you can't make it to Seattle in one of those.
Me: I just drove it here from Seattle this morning.
Passerby: Yeah, but it won't make the whole trip.
Me: Yes, it did. I made it here without charging. If I drove really carefully, I could just make it back too. But I just have it plugged in while I'm at this event, and I'll have more than enough to get home.
Passerby: Nobody will buy them if they can't get to Seattle. They don't work.

Once (not long after the infamous Top Gear episode) I was picking up my Roadster from the Seattle service center. As I sat down, somebody walked in from the street.
Passerby: How far can you go in that car?
Me: 244 miles.
Passerby: No you can't.
Me: Uh, yes I can, and I have. My son goes to school in Bellingham, and I make the round-trip frequently. I've taken it to San Diego and back.
Passerby: No, they only go 55 miles.

Later that same week, driving past a fast food restaurant, somebody just outside it saw my Roadster.
Pedestrian (yelling): GET A REAL SPORTS CAR!
I couldn't help but laugh as I thought of "Get a horse!"

Me: ...and because electricity is so much cheaper than gas, you'll save about $125/month in fuel costs.
Passerby: Yeah, but then your electricity bill goes up by $150, right?
Second passerby: Yeah, but you have to buy a new battery every 3 years.

There are so many crazy things people worry about. Can you drive it in winter? Can you drive it in the rain? Does it have a heater? Does it have AC? Can you go very far with the windshield wipers on? Too bad it's impossible to make an electric pickup truck. Too bad they don't make an AWD version, because I live in Seattle and it snows here once a year for a day. Have you ever run over anybody because it's so quiet? It must not be any fun to drive with no noise or shifting. Are you worried that you'll die in a crash because they are built so poorly?

Here are several that I used to get very frequently, but they don't happen often anymore:

Passerby: Is it a hybrid?
Me: No, it's all-electric. No gas tank, engine, or exhaust.
Passerby: So it's electric?
Me: Yes.
Passerby: No gas at all?

Passerby: How often do you drive it?
Me: All the time - I sold my gas car, and this is what I drive.
Passerby: (silent; unable to fully process that an electric car really works. After a moment they typically say something like "Good for you!")

Passerby: What is it like to drive?
Me: (details speed, throttle response, note I've driven it to San Diego and back, etc)
Passerby: So can it go on the freeway?
Me: Yes, and it can get to freeway speeds faster than any car you've ever been in. (I don't say that last part if I'm at a car show, but it's a fairly safe bet otherwise)
Passerby: Can it make it up a mountain pass?

Passerby: Yeah, but what do you do when you want to drive to L.A.?
Me: Well, most people would fly or take their other gas car...
Passerby (sputtering): I mean in this car!
Me: ...but I've driven this to San Diego and back.
Passerby: (silence, jaw agape as their worldview implodes - they were confident I would tell them it was impossible. After a couple of moments they typically ask about charging stations)

 

[sp4rk]

Thanks for a load of great laughs.
When you've been in this situation so many times, it just rings in your ears!!!
It'll take a few more months for "peeps" to understand that

- Freemont, California is a town / state in the USA.
- Electricity is not gas.
- Range is a thing of the past.
- Superchargers are not just for cell phones
- Driving ALL ELECTRIC is s3xy. Yeah. Baby! Sorry, where was I?
- The smile needs surgery to have removed.

 

[austinEV]

I would be remiss if I didn't tell this story as well:

I have had my car for about 3 months. I have been reading about these stories for about 12 months... So when I got my car, I was astounded by how FEW people wanted to talk to me about it. I think that, in Texas, the number of people who can identify a Model S as unusual is very low. I got a few people lowering their windows to talk to me at lights, but it has been 2-3 tops.

So one day I am on my way to work and I am at a backed up red light. The guy behind me gets out of his pickup truck and comes up to my window, taking cell phone pictures the whole time. I am all like, geez paparazzi, amirite? I lower my window ready to give my 20s speech or answer his questions. He says smile and takes my picture, which is creepy right? Then he calls me an &*%$hole and says he is going to give my pictures to the police for speeding through is neighborhood.

1) I was crestfallen that I didn't have a tesla superfan to talk to
2) He wasn't even an EV hater, I don't think he gave a damn/knew what it was
3) I probably WAS speeding through his neighborhood...
4) I was THAT GUY to him,
5) I wanted to be real mad about his behavior but I pretty much knew to my horror that I was the jerk in that scenario.
6) I go slow through that neighborhood now
7) Model S' go real fast real quietly and that means I need to be responsible about it.

The cops, who would definitely know me from the pics (They have talked to me a few times about new house and car), haven't bugged me about it so he either was bluffing or the cops said yeah that's not a thing you can do.

So my least fun "Tesla" comment.

 

[lorih]

ChadS; sounds like you have to give more test drives. Your conversations aren't making enough converts :wink:

 

[ChadS]

Rides definitely work WAY better than talking! But I have talked to about 20,000 people, and just can't give that many test drives...a lot of high-traffic events (like auto shows) won't let me take my car out of the display area.

I am, of course, just picking out the worst ones. Most people really like the car and think it's cool, although not all are yet convinced it could work for them. They are mostly curious.