It turns out…

Electric cars aren’t just good to improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They might also be a useful (maybe even life-saving!) tool to help smokers quit. This is based on anecdotal evidence coming from a Nissan LEAF salesman who found that driving an electric car helped his customers do exactly that.

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«Ray Ishak—a salesman at Magic Nissan in Everett, Washington—told Plug-In America secretary Jeff Finn that 10 customers had stopped smoking after buying their Leafs.»

Why? Certainly not because of some electromagnetic exposure or sudden influx of increased environmental awareness. It’s for the simple fact that many smokers buy their cigarettes at the gas station when they stop for a fill up, and without this part of their routine — which can be strongly associated with smoking — it can become easier to stop.

Of course, this isn’t based on large scale studies with proper scientific methodology, so take this for what it’s worth. But it makes a lot of intuitive sense. As Winston Churchill said, «We shape our houses, and afterwards our houses shape us.» This applies to more than buildings; setting our lives in such a way that we stay away from temptation makes it a lot easier to stay on the straight and narrow. That’s why recovering alcoholics and drug addicts are asked not to hang out where they used to hang out, not see the ‘trigger’ people who they used to get wasted with…

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And cigarettes might not be the only unhealthy habit that electric cars help make more inconvenient. Gas stations aren’t exactly filled with organic produce and wholesome food!

Via Plug-In America, GCR