Potential New Leaf Owner in San Diego

[owhymesd]

Hello all! I've been on the fence about a new Leaf for awhile now and just need some info to help me decide. My daily commute is 24-30 miles round trip depending on after work activities. I don't have a home charging option as I am a renter with on-street parking. There is a free charging station at my office that I could use. If pushed and I got a spot right in front of my house I could run an extension cord out but I'd prefer not to do that. Am I crazy for even considering this car?

 

[sirenbrian]

Hello all! I've been on the fence about a new Leaf for awhile now and just need some info to help me decide. My daily commute is 24-30 miles round trip depending on after work activities. I don't have a home charging option as I am a renter with on-street parking. There is a free charging station at my office that I could use. If pushed and I got a spot right in front of my house I could run an extension cord out but I'd prefer not to do that. Am I crazy for even considering this car?

It sounds like it'd be a regular stressful event, guessing whether you'd be able to charge on any given day. The daily charges at work would be good, if nobody else needed to use the charger, and you didn't change jobs, but that leaves weekends and holidays where you can't be sure you can charge your car at home. I hate to say it, but it sounds like more trouble than it's worth. Have you considered a plug-in hybrid, which gets 30-40 miles, say a Volt or the Ford C-Max/Energi (can't remember which fits this profile). Then you can use gas when the charging stations aren't available, and it's not going to strand you?

 

[owhymesd]

It sounds like it'd be a regular stressful event, guessing whether you'd be able to charge on any given day. The daily charges at work would be good, if nobody else needed to use the charger, and you didn't change jobs, but that leaves weekends and holidays where you can't be sure you can charge your car at home. I hate to say it, but it sounds like more trouble than it's worth. Have you considered a plug-in hybrid, which gets 30-40 miles, say a Volt or the Ford C-Max/Energi (can't remember which fits this profile). Then you can use gas when the charging stations aren't available, and it's not going to strand you?

I haven't really considered any others, mainly because of the price. I haven't had a car payment in over 5 years and I don't really want one. The Leaf will get me to about a $75 car payment on a lease once I stop paying for gas so I'm okay with that. I'm pretty cheap.

I thought I was crazy so thanks for confirming!

 

[TonyWilliams]

A plug in car like a Volt can be leased quite economical. Plus, 35-40 mile range, and you can plug in at work.

When things don't quite work out, dead dinosaurs save the day!!!

But, you're crazy, so you'll probably go for the LEAF or Mitsubishi iMiev, or wait for the really cheap Smart ED. :mrgreen:

Good luck.

 

[MrIanB]

I think the Volt is the better fit for you due to limited/no charger at home. Volt will give you first 30-35 miles of all electric before engine kicks in. On weekends, you can go to a public charger or drive the Volt on gas. Their leases are about $200./month.

Good luck nd let us know the outcome.

Ian B

 

[venk25]

...Thir leases are about $200./month....Ian B

$200/mo lease for a Volt?! When I was looking around, it was something like ~$2200 down and $300+/mo. for the model without any options.

 

[owhymesd]

So if I keep my current fossil fuel fed vehicle then I can use it as backup and I'm less crazy? I haven't seen any Volts less than $300 for a lease either. Keeping my current car is not ideal but it is 10 years old, paid for and gets 35mpg so not too bad.

 

[walterbays]

How well it might work depends on some other factors which you know, plus some factors you cannot know. For 30 miles with a 6.6 kW charger you'd only need something like 1 hr 15 min charging each day, or 5 1/2 hr charging each work week. So if you're certain you could use your work charging station at least one day a week then it looks like it could work. Could you? What if twenty of your co-workers buy EV's and you're all contending for one or two charging spots? What if a Hummer driver decides he likes that particular parking space and parks there all day every day? Would your company police parking? Would they add more charging stations if needed? If to finance adding more charging stations your company enacted a $1/hr fee would your economic case still work? What if it were $2/hr or $3/hr?

renter with on-street parking. There is a free charging station at my office that I could use.

What about alternate charging locations? If they exist within walking distance of your work, then if you were low on charge and unable to plug in at work you could plug in elsewhere. Paying $1/hr occasionally probably wouldn't change your economic case much.

Then there are the long promised quick charging stations from Blink, EVoasis, NRG, and Nissan. A couple of stations have finally appeared. Many more are promised, but when and where? If even one of them is conveniently located for you then on those occasional times when you are unable to charge at work all week you can zip over to the QC station and get another week's fuel in 30 minutes for perhaps $7. On-street parking sounds like central city which sounds like you ought to have multiple QC stations nearby. Occasional use of "expensive" QC probably wouldn't hurt your overall economic case either. But you can't know if or when any of these charging networks is going to come through on its promises. In the worst case you could end up paying extra for a QC port on your car, counting on QC stations to keep you rolling when things went wrong at work, and be unable to use it.

[edit] Paying car insurance on a backup gas car sounds to me like it would be a lot more expensive than paying $7 for QC a couple of times a month.

 

[Reddy]

I'd have to agree, you're probably pushing it. Up here there aren't many EVs, if I had a iron-clad agreement with my work, then I might consider it. However, in sunny CA you'll have so many EVs competing for those charging stations, that some days you won't get there. Get an agreement from work that they'll put in more stations as more EVs are added. Explain your lack of home charging and they may provide some reassurances. However, expecting "free" charging at work is not realistic. Costs will go up. Offer to pay $1000 if they install an extra one when needed.

Your commute distance is perfect but not charging at work or home means HOURS charging some where else. Unless it's part of your normal routine, it will get old quick. Yes, an hour or two with the new 6.6 kW charger would work but that is everyday. Perhaps you go out to dinner every night, and there's a station nearby. Yes, in the future it may cost $5 per charge, but alternatives might make it viable.

+1 to Walterbays

Crazy? No. But you need to be realistic about your commitment.

 

[Randy]

https://www.evgonetwork.com/own-or-manage-multi-family-communities/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Check out the eVgo website. They are starting to work in California to put in free make-ready sites for workplace and multi-unit dwellings (infrastructure without the actual charging station). If they did that where you lived or worked, then you could strike a deal with them to come in and install a charging station that would be for your exclusive use. You would pay a fixed monthly amount and be assured that you could get your charge that way...

They're starting in San Diego now, so if you visit their website you can get more information.

 

[x10guy]

I wouldn't consider the Leaf in your situation. Not having a consistent charging station at home will really be a pain, especially during weekends, vacations and holidays. Also the 120V EVSE is fairly valuable so it wouldn't be something I would leave outside. I'd be too afraid of it being stolen.