A story about my Greening (and the LEAF)

My friend Sheryll has posted her piece about my greening on Autotropolis. It's a bit weird reading about yourself, if I had to be honest:

http://www.autotropolis.com/driving-smart/real-confessions-2011-nissan-leaf-electric-vehicle-ev-buyer.html

Nice!

Can I now say I know someone famous?

"And why would you want to drive a car that only goes about 60 miles and then loses power without an infrastructure to recharge it on the road?"

You should have demanded editorial rights, MWalsh!! :lol:

Jimmydreams said:

You should have demanded editorial rights, MWalsh!! :lol:

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Shhh! She's a nice lady.

They always are... they always are...

I must say the article doesn't come off very well IMHO. It kind of makes you seem crazy for doing it.

cdub said:

It kind of makes you seem crazy for doing it.

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Yeah, but to be fair to her....sometimes I have to wonder myself!

Haha! Aren't we all... aren't we all.

is it ok to post on your thread or are we not worthy?

Too funny. Yous guys! :lol:

cdub said:

I must say the article doesn't come off very well IMHO. It kind of makes you seem crazy for doing it.

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I tend to agree. The focus on the high $$ is too heavy; at least as far as the impact on an average Joe reading the article. For us active contributors and enthusiasts on this forum it all makes sense; but it's not a great piece to convince a fence-sitter.

Still ... congrats on "becoming famous"

I always wondered how writers pick people to write about. Now I know.

Pick the craziest guy you know ;-)

I disagree ...
I won't re-open the article, but getting a car + solar panels to recharge it (and power the house) for something like 44k (that's what I remember from the article, which I guess is what matters), seemed like a pretty good deal (and smart move) to me !

I thought the article was a bit short though, and I was looking forward to when Michael would break even on his investment.

Can't be that far off, honestly, if you save 1k / year in electricity for the house and 1k / year in gas for the car, in 10 years, you've gotten 20k back ...

gudy said:

I disagree ...
I won't re-open the article, but getting a car + solar panels to recharge it (and power the house) for something like 44k (that's what I remember from the article, which I guess is what matters), seemed like a pretty good deal (and smart move) to me !

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I agree to but that's not how it was presented. It was presented as costing $77 thousand first. Usually you'd post the lower # and do the rest in parentheses or something.

Michael, good on ya for getting the word out to the rest of the world, any which way you can.

I agree that the best way to express the financials is to show the years to payback. With the gas savings, as well as home electric savings, and factoring inflation of both commodities, it comes out fairly reasonable.

mwalsh, enjoy your 15 seconds of fame, everyone gets their turn eventually

i think the article was ok. it is not as bad as i have heard. my SO who was previously ok with the Leaf is now dead set against it because one of her co-workers read an article somewhere that the Leaf would have a 40 mile range and the batteries would not last more than a year.

so now she wont take it to work. her RT work commute is just under 60 miles. i am sure she will change her mind when she sees it which is also delayed as she had planned to do a ride along today, but has decided not to come

I have had this thought a time or two . . .

Solar panels on the house + an electric vehicle that will be charged by the solar panels


Is there a little bit of "survivalist" in some of us?


When do we begin stockpiling closets full of food, bottled water, medical supplies, gas masks, etc. ?

Azrich said:

I have had this thought a time or two . . .

Solar panels on the house + an electric vehicle that will be charged by the solar panels


Is there a little bit of "survivalist" in some of us?


When do we begin stockpiling closets full of food, bottled water, medical supplies, gas masks, etc. ?

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oh oh!! sounds like you discovered the "reverse electrolysis" procedure to create fresh water out of sunlight

Azrich said:

Is there a little bit of "survivalist" in some of us?

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Not me man. I'm doing it for the planet. Oh, and to save a few bucks (maybe someday). Oh, and to use the carpool lane.

If only the math were that simple. But even if it was, he'd still have 14 more years to go during which time some more investment would likely have to be made in both the EV and the PV.

gudy said:

I disagree ...
I won't re-open the article, but getting a car + solar panels to recharge it (and power the house) for something like 44k (that's what I remember from the article, which I guess is what matters), seemed like a pretty good deal (and smart move) to me !

Can't be that far off, honestly, if you save 1k / year in electricity for the house and 1k / year in gas for the car, in 10 years, you've gotten 20k back ...

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