I purchased a Nissan Leaf just before Memorial Weekend this year. Now that I have had it a few months, I can now say with some authority how well it works.
First, why an all electric car? Many people have expressed skepticism and think I am crazy for buying it, so let me explain. I drive to and from work every day, and then usually have a few errands to run, like picking up kids and taking them to soccer practice or something. My daily use is generally under 70 miles, so the electric car works out great for my normal usage.
Prior to my electric car, I drive a Ford Expedition. I was spending about $400 in gas per month, plus another $1500 or so a year on maintenance. I have over 110,000 miles on it, so it is a sure thing maintenance costs will rise. Normally, since it is 7 years old, I would trade it in for a new car. A really use my Expedition, hauling stuff, family vacations, Boy Scouts, but those uses are pretty minimal. So paying $700/month for a new one plus gas plus maintenance is a lot. What does my leaf cost me? $550 per month plus maintenance costs of about $150/year. So I am spending about $565 per month on my new car, instead of spending $525 per month driving my Expedition, which I already owned. So basically, my new car is costing my $40/month and saving me a lot of wear and tear on my Expedition.
Electric costs? Well, that is tricky, and I don't rightly know. I had solar installed about two weeks before my Leaf, so it is hard to judge how much the electricity really would cost if I didn't have solar, but it seems like $50 per month is a reasonable estimate.
People worry about the range of electric cars and how practical they are. When I got my Leaf, I put a car cover on my Expedition and didn't take it off for 4 months. I went everywhere I needed in my Leaf. On a couple of occasions, I needed to travel farther, so I traded cars with my wife for the day. Very simply, the electric car is working perfectly for me, but it isn't for everyone. If you are a two car family, odds are good and electric car can be one of those two cars and it will work out great. It would simply not be practical for your only car.
So how do I like it? I love it! My wife drives a Mercedes C class: she likes driving the Leaf better (as do I). I think they are unattractive on the outside, but I have outgrown the car as an extension of my ego thing. It is a commuter vehicle, plain and simple. It is surprisingly roomy comfortable and roomy on the inside, handles very well. I love the quiet, People tell me it sounds like a spaceship when I drive up.
For years I have heard and read self-righteous Prius owners complaining about everyone else polluting the environment, even though they are too, just at a lessor rate per mile. It's amazing: I see some of these people actually violently angry at people who have the audacity to drive an SUV. Many of those Prius drivers then commute great distances (a 9 mile commute in my Expedition uses less gas than a 50 mile commute in a Prius). Nothing against the Prius or their owners, just the self righteous ones. So my favorite part of driving a Leaf is that now I can shake my fist and yell at them for polluting the planet.
8 comments:
cool! go shoo go. i can't wait to get my first electric car.
hybrids kinda suck. really the only benefit to them is that the car industry can slowy start mass producing batteries and electric motors. sorta ease into the inevitable shift from gas cars to fully electric cars.
so um... is there a typo in your post somewhere? 110,000 miles per 7 years is 16,000 miles per year. at $400 per year is 40 miles per dollar. at $3/gallon for gas is 120 miles per gallon! ... i can see why you didn't sell the expedition. ;->
As a passenger of Shoo's electric car. I will say it has lots of fun features, like the backup guide and the tree video game.
However the C Class has much more humor potential with its on-board GPS.
Yeah, Timmer, I saw the same thing and got either $0.36 per gallon of gas, or 141 MPG. If you're getting that kind of mileage, you sure didn't need the Leaf!
Also--as far as the planet killing SUV's...We're still driving our '99 Durango. If you take the difference between the fuel the Durango burns, compared to the fuel a Prius burns- per passenger mile- then take that number and compare it to the carbon footprint of building that Prius, I doubt you come ahead. If I keep driving the old Durango as long as possible, I think the carbon output is less (not that I believe it makes an iota of difference in the climate)
most of the carbon cost of a car is the fuel. like 10x or so. clearly the greenest "solution" is to not build the car in the first place. but that's too dumb to even consider. to build the prius, we have to spend carbon right now. which is very much not very green in the short run. but the 3x or so fuel savings makes the prius the green queen in the long run. not sure when exactly the crossover point would be. heh. so in order to be green you have to be not-green. lovely little paradox there, eh? it's called the oil trap. wee.
Also, the more developed a country is, the 'greener' it is. From the jungle dwellers that practice slash and burn, to our third world neighbor to the south covered in trash. I believe there is a very important macro carbon cycle. Without human intervention, over time ecosystems cause an atmospheric carbon deficit as plants take carbon from the air and lock it in the soil. My Durango is a very effective re-liberator of carbon pumped from the ground and put back in the atmosphere again.
Heh, typo fixed. That was $400 in gas per month, not per year.
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