Best reason to own a Leaf

My Leaf arrives in April, so they say. This will be in addition to my collection of the three most fuel efficient gas-electric hybrids ever sold in America. Anyway, there is one, single, important reason why I want a vehicle that does not rely on gasoline sitting in my garage and here it is. Were you driving a car in this country in 1973? Not born yet, you say, well, OK. Ever heard of the Arab oil embargo aka the gas crisis? When this repeats itself I do not want to be competing with the motorists of 2011 that I encounter everyday. It was bad enough in 1973 but this time there will be blood. People are different. Ever been threatened or endangered by the lunatic in the pickup truck? I want to drive by the gas station in my Leaf and hopefully no stray bullets will perforate the car.

Welcome to the forum. My early childhood memory of the embargo is pretty slim. Soon after though, I do remember my dad got the first diesel VW Rabbit to arrive in San Francisco and started collecting extra diesel in a large fuel drum he kept out back. I think it made an impact on him.

Yeah, Kenneth, I was there too. Thirty-eight years later, and we aren't any more prepared than we were last time. But the best reason right now for owning my LEAF is last month's 'fuel' bill... about $26. Roughly two and a half cents per mile.

-Karl

Kenneth said:

My Leaf arrives in April, so they say. This will be in addition to my collection of the three most fuel efficient gas-electric hybrids ever sold in America. Anyway, there is one, single, important reason why I want a vehicle that does not rely on gasoline sitting in my garage and here it is. Were you driving a car in this country in 1973? Not born yet, you say, well, OK. Ever heard of the Arab oil embargo aka the gas crisis? When this repeats itself I do not want to be competing with the motorists of 2011 that I encounter everyday. It was bad enough in 1973 but this time there will be blood. People are different. Ever been threatened or endangered by the lunatic in the pickup truck? I want to drive by the gas station in my Leaf and hopefully no stray bullets will perforate the car.

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I too was around back then and remember the lines and the (sometime) confrontations.

Once, I was going upstate to ski and wanted to 'top off' my tank for the trip. I had to wait on a long line, but eventually got to the pump. When my car only took ~5 gallons I almost got into an altercation with the guy behind me who accused me of keeping him from 'his gas' for 'no reason'. And let's not forget that gas rationing coupons were actually printed but fortunately not issued.

Everyone assumes that gas will just go up in price but will always be available. Don't be so sure...

While I do remember the '73 oil embargo and coincidently my dad also bought a diesel VW rabbit; for me, that's not the best reason to own a LEAF. Mine's been delivered, it's got over 2200 mi on it and rather than wait for a repeat of '73, owning a LEAF, powered by the "oil well" on my roof, I smile everyday. I think I finally have personal transportation that makes sense. No embargo required.
Welcome to the forum.

Kenneth said:

My Leaf arrives in April, so they say. This will be in addition to my collection of the three most fuel efficient gas-electric hybrids ever sold in America. Anyway, there is one, single, important reason why I want a vehicle that does not rely on gasoline sitting in my garage and here it is. Were you driving a car in this country in 1973? Not born yet, you say, well, OK. Ever heard of the Arab oil embargo aka the gas crisis? When this repeats itself I do not want to be competing with the motorists of 2011 that I encounter everyday. It was bad enough in 1973 but this time there will be blood. People are different. Ever been threatened or endangered by the lunatic in the pickup truck? I want to drive by the gas station in my Leaf and hopefully no stray bullets will perforate the car.

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Yes, I was driving a car in this country in 1973; and I remember the Arab Oil Embargo very vividly. Fortunately, I was not adversely affected because I was driving a 1959 Mercedes 180D Diesel at the time. Diesel was never in short supply during the embargo. I remember driving past long lines waiting @ the gas station, driving up to the diesel pump, and filling up @ 38 cents per gallon. It was funny, because sometimes people would line up behind me (short line, right?) not realizing that I was at a diesel pump. When they finally realized it, they had to go back to the back of the long line. It was UGLY, I tell you! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

My best reason is just like Sparky's. We make enough extra power from the power plant on our roof to drive all of our annual miles for free. I don't have as dim a view of the world as Kenneth does, and I lived through all of the gas lines, even parking my car in line overnight and walking a couple miles from and back to the car when the gas station opened up on "even" days. It wasn't fun but it was as civilized as it could be.

That said, I don't live anywhere near the "mean streets".

My very first adventure into this forum should probably have been a little less cynical. I posed the question about driving in 1973 and encountering the gas lines during the Arab oil embargo. It was nice to see that several people recalled those stressful times. But, it seems, most drivers did not experience it and thus no lesson was ever learned.

Today there are fewer gas stations but more cars. If gas supplies vanish or it becomes hard to find, lines will form and history will repeat itself. I don't want to be part of that scene again. So, I think it is, at least, a really good reason to plan ahead by having an alternative to a gasoline powered vehicle ready to go.

Kenneth said:

My very first adventure into this forum should probably have been a little less cynical. I posed the question about driving in 1973 and encountering the gas lines during the Arab oil embargo. It was nice to see that several people recalled those stressful times. But, it seems, most drivers did not experience it and thus no lesson was ever learned.

Today there are fewer gas stations but more cars. If gas supplies vanish or it becomes hard to find, lines will form and history will repeat itself. I don't want to be part of that scene again. So, I think it is, at least, a really good reason to plan ahead by having an alternative to a gasoline powered vehicle ready to go.

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No question, Kenneth. As gas prices started to climb again recently, it felt really good to know that I would soon have an alternative means of fueling for much of my driving.

Kenneth said:

My very first adventure into this forum should probably have been a little less cynical. I posed the question about driving in 1973 and encountering the gas lines during the Arab oil embargo. It was nice to see that several people recalled those stressful times. But, it seems, most drivers did not experience it and thus no lesson was ever learned.

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I had always thought that obvious from the way that all of Carter's initiatives for energy independence were trashed at record speed...

For both "freedom from Arab oil economics" and for a cleaner tomorrow where we all can breathe...

This article on our home and cars was just posted today on another website; you might find it relevant to owning a Leaf and powering it efficiently:

http://solarchargeddriving.com/news/people/647-theyre-plugging-a-volt-and-a-leaf-into-solar.html

Thanks for the read guys. Why was diesel not affected by the embargo? I would think it would be affected as well. Is it because there were plenty of supply and not much demand?

This is easy. I wanted to do something that reduce our involvement in the mid east. It seemed unreasonable to send soldiers into harms way in the mid east so we can drive SUV at home. So what changes could I make? An electric vehicle is the perfect answer. It reduces some oil dependency, it could reduce oil company profits, pushes a new technology forward, saves national treasury from foreign wars, and may save soldiers lives. All in all a good thing.

TRONZ said:

My early childhood memory of the embargo is pretty slim. Soon after though, I do remember my dad got the first diesel VW Rabbit to arrive in San Francisco and started collecting extra diesel in a large fuel drum he kept out back. I think it made an impact on him.

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The first diesel VW Rabbit was manufactured in 1977, 4 years after the embargo. I bought the first one delivered to anyone in Ohio at the oldest VW dealer in Ohio. Three years later, I bought another one and this one had A/C and I won an 'economy run' of 42 miles with a 'crush the competition' of 78Mpg.

Come on you guys the oil embargo was not about OPEC refusing to sell oil to the US. It was just about the money. Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard and the dollar fell so OPEC just wanted a higher price. But Nixon wanted to control inflation by having price controls on oil. There was never a shortage. The mandated pump price just would not support the price OPEC demanded. Eventually the price controls were lifted and the oil flowed freely. And inflation roared away peaking around 1979/1980.

But yes I really prefer to use domestic energy.

For me it is really simple, I hate going to the gas station and giving them my money, period f**king Dot.

smkettner said:

Come on you guys the oil embargo was not about OPEC refusing to sell oil to the US. It was just about the money. Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard and the dollar fell so OPEC just wanted a higher price. But Nixon wanted to control inflation by having price controls on oil. There was never a shortage. The mandated pump price just would not support the price OPEC demanded. Eventually the price controls were lifted and the oil flowed freely. And inflation roared away peaking around 1979/1980.

But yes I really prefer to use domestic energy.

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"There was never a shortage" is poppy cock. The departure of Western nations from the gold standard in 1971 placed pressure on the revenue that oil brought in to Arab nations but the shortage trigger was an active decision by OAPEC in October 1973 to drop oil production by 5% followed by another 5% next period and so on as a direct result of US rearming Israel after the Yom Kipper War. When the US further increased aid to Israel, several Arab nations responded with an oil embargo with the US as the primary target.

The notion of one man's political actions as the simple reason and ensuing vilification continues to show how our politics has continued to descend into a stagnant polarization in the last 40 years. I am skeptical that humans by their need for leaders and heroes and their blind acceptance of fear are simply too lazy to reason and weigh risks to make decisions. The latest evidence of this ineptitude is the rejection of electric cars because their limited range.

I actually remember the US embargo in the 80s - thank you very much, guys...

It's not just the Arabs who are mean but the Americans can impose their own embargoes on the little European kids living behind the iron curtain riding in the back of the two cycle Trabant too and wondering when the Pershings start raining down on them next. Just sayin'...

The monthly 20 liter (~5 gallons) limit wasn't fun but my reason to own the LEAF is to stick it up to the Arabs by reducing our demand by 50% down to what we can actually produce ourselves. Hopefully, I'll be able to generate my own solar power eventually too, so the mountains in WV don't have to blown up either.