Good Article: Electric Cars are Coming but it will be slow

[Aeolus]

One of the best articles I've read about EV adoption

http://www.greencarreports.com/news...e-slow-why-is-this-so-hard-to-grasp?fbfanpage

My favorite takeaway for LEAF owners

Better driving experience is the hidden ace

As costs come down, the biggest appeal of electrics for the future mass market could well turn out to be driving experience.

An electric car is simply better to drive than a comparable gasoline car. It offers lots of low-end torque, it's smooth and quiet, and there's no shifting going on.

Spend a week in a Nissan Leaf, and then return to your similarly sized gasoline or diesel car. You'll be surprised at how raucous it is and how much mechanical stuff is going on in the background.

 

[LKK]

Great article. I totally agree with you on the driving experience. As people come to experience EVs, they will realize the driving experience is worth the extra costs.

 

[Stanton]

Thanks for posting the link.
The "driving experience" has also been a pleasant surprise for me: I don't mind being "in the car" as much as I used to!

 

[edatoakrun]

Once you go BEV,

You don't want to go ICEV.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

for first time in over a month, i drove Prius today for some errands and to get gas. i am not going to say i hate my Prius, but it is a major major letdown as far as the driving experience from my Leaf. i do like the heated seats, the sunroof, the 500 mile range...but to be quiet honest with ya; it aint enough anymore...not even close

 

[surfingslovak]

for first time in over a month, i drove Prius today for some errands and to get gas. i am not going to say i hate my Prius, but it is a major major letdown as far as the driving experience from my Leaf. i do like the heated seats, the sunroof, the 500 mile range...but to be quiet honest with ya; it aint enough anymore...not even close

Exactly! BTW have you considered the heated seats upgrade for the Leaf? The installation party we did earlier this year was really fun and productive. It's fairly easy if you do just the front seats.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/index.php?title=Seat_Heaters" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BayLeafs/permalink/289499641107704/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[RegGuheert]

i am not going to say i hate my Prius, but...

Our Honda Civic Hybrid has a new nickname: "The Old Gas Guzzler"!

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

the hard part; just put in $40 of gas, good for about 10 days so do it about 3 times a month. $40 is what i use in the leaf about every 6 weeks or so.

 

[DeaneG]

We love our Leaf and drive the wheels off it while our gas cars literally collect cobwebs. But don't think I'll buy another EV until mass-market vehicles have twice the range. If a planned outing approaches 50 miles we leave the Leaf parked, and I'd rather not do that since it's the nicer car to drive.

 

[RegGuheert]

We love our Leaf and drive the wheels off it while our gas cars literally collect cobwebs. But don't think I'll buy another EV until mass-market vehicles have twice the range. If a planned outing approaches 50 miles we leave the Leaf parked, and I'd rather not do that since it's the nicer car to drive.

I fully agree. We choose the car which best suits the job, and the LEAF is that car 90% of the time. I'm not sure another EV will EVER make sense for us even if it had double the range. That would probably only make it useful for 92% of the trips. (If we were both commuters, I could see having two EVs.)

At the same time, I also have a hard time seeing us purchasing another ICEV. If one of ours fails us, we'll have to think long and hard about whether or not it should be replaced. If we decide to replace it, I very much doubt we would buy a brand new ICEV or hybrid.

Regarding the article, I really don't see costs of EVs coming down much this decade since I don't think the battery capacity is quite as high as it needs to be to alleviate range anxiety for most people. OTOH, I expect there may be something (financial, political, geophysical or whatever) that will cause gasoline prices to spike, which will drive many toward EVs sooner than predicted. Worldwide oil availability is just too tight for things to be predictable. I simply do not think EV sales will experience a nice, smooth, exponential growth as is portrayed in the article.

 

[Boomer23]

Okay, so according to the article, we early buyers can be described as being part of several groups.

So do we need a poll to see which of us identifies ourselves as "early adopters, technology enthusiasts, uber-greens, energy security folks, and those who I fondly call the "cheap bastards"--the folks who calculate total cost of ownership"? :lol:

 

[TRONZ]

I have not even driven a gas car in over 6 months. I booked a rental for a long Spring Break trip on April 10th. Not looking forward to it from a vehicular standpoint. The rental is $29 per day but will probably cost more in gas by the time it's all over with.

The real missing factor in alot of EV "talk" is that the general public has absolutely NO clue how much better an EV drives than a gas car. The last gasser I drove (Ford Focus) felt like a piece of agricultural equipment. I even pulled over after it noisily and gutlessly lurched it's self away from a stop light for the third time. I was absolutely convinced that something was wrong with it. My wife just laughed at me.

 

[Aeolus]

The real missing factor in alot of EV "talk" is that the general public has absolutely NO clue how much better an EV drives than a gas car. The last gasser I drove (Ford Focus) felt like a piece of agricultural equipment. I even pulled over after it noisily and gutlessly lurched it's self away from a stop light for the third time. I was absolutely convinced that something was wrong with it. My wife just laughed at me.

I've had this same experience in rental cars, convinced that there was something wrong.

And then filling up with a stinky flammable liquid from a grimy pump at a creepy, dirty gas station, standing outside in the cold and dark instead of filling up in the clean comfort of my own garage.

 

[IBELEAF]

It looks like most people comparing it to budget cars and it just doesn't compare, I think Leaf closer to luxury car feel.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

If the Smyrna plant were to run full tilt for 10 years and all the production sold in the U.S. less than 1% of the cars on the road would be Leafs.

An a brighter note I saw my second Leaf in the wild here in Palm Beach County!

 

[tps]

These guys get it! I've been loving the LEAF's awesome driving experience for the last 2 months I had mine. The average person just doesn't know...

 

[Luft]

for first time in over a month, i drove Prius today for some errands and to get gas. i am not going to say i hate my Prius, but it is a major major letdown as far as the driving experience from my Leaf. i do like the heated seats, the sunroof, the 500 mile range...but to be quiet honest with ya; it aint enough anymore...not even close

I don't remember the last time I drove my Prius. It was before Christmas I think. It has become my Wife's car.

Today she is out doing errands in my LEAF. I'm sitting here worrying about my baby...

Ummm... If you read this dear that means you... Yeah... That's the ticket... :lol:

 

[RegGuheert]

Ummm... If you read this dear that means you... Yeah... That's the ticket... :lol:

Nice recovery!! I thought you might be in trouble there for a minute but I'm sure she'll never see through that!

 

[bdgotoh]

Okay, so according to the article, we early buyers can be described as being part of several groups.

So do we need a poll to see which of us identifies ourselves as "early adopters, technology enthusiasts, uber-greens, energy security folks, and those who I fondly call the "cheap bastards"--the folks who calculate total cost of ownership"? :lol:

It's strange that the author gets that the real appeal is the driving experience but doesn't list that as a reason for people buying them now. The no gas attracted me but the overall experience is what makes me sure I've bought my last gas only car.

 

[adric22]

Today she is out doing errands in my LEAF. I'm sitting here worrying about my baby...

Ummm... If you read this dear that means you... Yeah... That's the ticket... :lol:

Yeah.. I have the same problem. My wife always wants to drive my car "to save money" (yeah right). However, today my daughter squealed on her and told me that she was drinking a soda while driving my car.. that is a big no-no. Sodas are not allowed in my car! So I think my wife will be driving her Prius for a while.