Shopping for a 2014-2015 Leaf with 12 bars and under 30K miles.
Supposing I end up buying it, what's going to happen after 3-5 years when the battery life comes to an end? Is this a throwaway purchase? There will be no resale or trade-in value left if the battery is dying. The only outcome I see is to turn a used up Leaf into a project car for various experiments like solar panels on the roof for constant recharging.
Of course I could hope for a lower priced (and possibly higher kWh) replacement battery. Other than that it seems like a completely self-indulgent purchase: environmental issues aside this car will not pay for itself in the price of unused gasoline before the battery dies as I don't do a lot of driving. Also, I tend to hold on to my cars and my 10-yo Accord is doing just fine and will probably do just fine for another 10 years.
Why a Leaf purchase is even on the table? I like the quiet ride, not having to buy gas, and it's fun to drive. Oh, and I've been dreaming about owning an EV for 8+ years now. And tomorrow may never come (that's a retort to self trying to wait for longer-range, better battery chemistry model). So, expensive (in our neck of the woods) toy, alas.
Sorry about the rant.
How did you rationalize your purchase?
Supposing I end up buying it, what's going to happen after 3-5 years when the battery life comes to an end? Is this a throwaway purchase? There will be no resale or trade-in value left if the battery is dying. The only outcome I see is to turn a used up Leaf into a project car for various experiments like solar panels on the roof for constant recharging.
Of course I could hope for a lower priced (and possibly higher kWh) replacement battery. Other than that it seems like a completely self-indulgent purchase: environmental issues aside this car will not pay for itself in the price of unused gasoline before the battery dies as I don't do a lot of driving. Also, I tend to hold on to my cars and my 10-yo Accord is doing just fine and will probably do just fine for another 10 years.
Why a Leaf purchase is even on the table? I like the quiet ride, not having to buy gas, and it's fun to drive. Oh, and I've been dreaming about owning an EV for 8+ years now. And tomorrow may never come (that's a retort to self trying to wait for longer-range, better battery chemistry model). So, expensive (in our neck of the woods) toy, alas.
Sorry about the rant.
How did you rationalize your purchase?