Love that LEAF

Recently, I had a ride in a Nissan LEAF EV. A friend has just bought one and she took me for a drive. It’s quiet, it’s cool and it’s a distinctive shape in a Megane sort of way.

My friend’s experience is that it’s been an amazing conversation starter. In just one week all sorts of people have stopped her in all sorts of places to ask her about it.

It’s providing evidence!

She acknowledges that buying this EV makes no dollar sense – even charging on her home solar system it has a 20-year payback. But then neither do jet skis or the latest in stereo systems – yet people buy them.

At the moment there’s not a great convenience factor either – there are very few public charge points around (yet) and its range is limited.

To me, she’s doing something more than just being a consumer in the market – she’s providing evidence “in the world” to the people in her her community that change is coming.

How else might she influence?

So we got into a conversation about how she can influence – insurance companies, registration authorities, autoclubs and others?

There’s also the question of how she can offer her EV as an opportunity – would a shopping centre see it as a publicity opportunity to be her first public charge point, for example? What about her local council?

Decisions “in the round”

In his book “Business Lessons from a Radical Industrialist”, Ray Anderson wrote about decision-making “in the round” – looking beyond strict dollar calculations to include opportunities such as marketing, trust, reputation and branding.

So at the domestic level, I think my friend’s decision will pay off in terms of her determination to be an influencer for a more sustainable future.