buzzneon
New member
Good afternoon,
I currently own a 2004 VW R32 - which is an awesome car that I never want to part with!
However it is now 10 years old, with 120,000 miles on it, and I'd like to reduce its workload a bit. It's also a little thirsty: the "32" in "R32" refers to the 3.2 litre V6 motor, which only gets low 20s MPG around town. Spending less on gas and maintenance, while extending the life of the R, is all extremely desirable.
I'm also a big fan of new technology .. specifically new "workable" technology. I had WiFi at home in the late 90s, and a Tivo around 2000. Neither of which were perfect at the time (far from it), but both are indispensable now. I'm really interested in electric vehicles, even though I'm not yet totally sold on rechargeable batteries (which I'll expand upon at the end of this post).
I live in Chicago, which comprises a large area; however my weekday commute is actually pretty small: 12 miles a day, all surface streets. I'd say on average I'd do 20 additional miles a week just running around town, so let's say 80 miles a week on average. Sometimes it's more of course, last week I did 170 Sunday to Sunday - but no single journey was more than maybe 20 miles. Perfect for a Leaf (actually I kind of wish my daily commute was a little longer so the savings would be greater).
The other side of the coin is of course how frequently I do need 65+ miles in a day .. heading up to Six Flags for instance, or Brookfield Zoo, or even just to some friends or "that great restaurant" that's way over in the western suburbs (I live in Evanston which is just north of the city, on the far east); and public charging is still a bit of a mess around here thanks to the demise of Charjit. I'm always going to want to take the R32 for some of these longer drives (it's really a wonderful car to drive), but I'd love it if the Leaf could do more of them.
So - due to my smaller daily commute, and needing my gas car for the really long ones, I think the Leaf would actually cost me about $200 a month. Now I'm not sure if that's really a bad thing, because I like the Leaf and I really want to support the whole EV industry. I'd love to see a larger range of EV cars available in Illinois. Confession: I'd probably get the Fiat 500e if it were available here, as I feel the Leaf is a bit too big for my needs. (Note: I've not driven the 500e - it could very well be rubbish).
That said, I HAVE driven the Leaf. Autobahn Evanston loaned me one for about 90 minutes on Saturday and I really liked it. I admit I liked it more than I thought I would. My R32 already has one of the smoothest and most responsive motors available, but that was nothing compared to the electric motor in the Leaf. Of course it's quite a bit slower than my car, but it didn't feel anywhere near as slow as I was expecting .. I was able to move through traffic extremely easily and had no troubles on I94. It was actively fun to drive .. and I don't just mean the "novelty" of electric, the car itself has a bit of personality and spirit, which I like.
This morning I got a quote for 240v 40amp service in my detached garage: $1300 (there's plenty of space on the panel, but they will need to bury a whole new run); however I believe the state of Illinois will cover half of the installation costs. I know I can charge the Leaf on 110, and I'm fine with that initially, but I will eventually want level 2.
So it seems to be decision time for me. I've never leased a vehicle or even bought one brand new (even my R32 was 2 years old); however the deals now are so great. The EV market is no-where near ready for the masses yet, but it'll get there, and it it'll get there quicker with enough support.
Aside from $200 a month, the other thing I'm questioning at the moment is the general viability of rechargeable batteries. I know it's still very early in the life of this industry; but even if the batteries get 20x more efficient, I still see it being a non-trivial transition for people from ICE to EV. Personally I wonder if hydrogen fuel-cells wouldn't be a better way to go, and if supporting rechargeable EVs might actually be slowing research into hydrogen. Both industries are exciting to watch, and both have serious challenges ahead.
So that's where I stand at the moment. I've been reading these forums for a while now and it seems like a really good and supportive community. I hope I can join you guys soon!
Cameron.
I currently own a 2004 VW R32 - which is an awesome car that I never want to part with!
However it is now 10 years old, with 120,000 miles on it, and I'd like to reduce its workload a bit. It's also a little thirsty: the "32" in "R32" refers to the 3.2 litre V6 motor, which only gets low 20s MPG around town. Spending less on gas and maintenance, while extending the life of the R, is all extremely desirable.
I'm also a big fan of new technology .. specifically new "workable" technology. I had WiFi at home in the late 90s, and a Tivo around 2000. Neither of which were perfect at the time (far from it), but both are indispensable now. I'm really interested in electric vehicles, even though I'm not yet totally sold on rechargeable batteries (which I'll expand upon at the end of this post).
I live in Chicago, which comprises a large area; however my weekday commute is actually pretty small: 12 miles a day, all surface streets. I'd say on average I'd do 20 additional miles a week just running around town, so let's say 80 miles a week on average. Sometimes it's more of course, last week I did 170 Sunday to Sunday - but no single journey was more than maybe 20 miles. Perfect for a Leaf (actually I kind of wish my daily commute was a little longer so the savings would be greater).
The other side of the coin is of course how frequently I do need 65+ miles in a day .. heading up to Six Flags for instance, or Brookfield Zoo, or even just to some friends or "that great restaurant" that's way over in the western suburbs (I live in Evanston which is just north of the city, on the far east); and public charging is still a bit of a mess around here thanks to the demise of Charjit. I'm always going to want to take the R32 for some of these longer drives (it's really a wonderful car to drive), but I'd love it if the Leaf could do more of them.
So - due to my smaller daily commute, and needing my gas car for the really long ones, I think the Leaf would actually cost me about $200 a month. Now I'm not sure if that's really a bad thing, because I like the Leaf and I really want to support the whole EV industry. I'd love to see a larger range of EV cars available in Illinois. Confession: I'd probably get the Fiat 500e if it were available here, as I feel the Leaf is a bit too big for my needs. (Note: I've not driven the 500e - it could very well be rubbish).
That said, I HAVE driven the Leaf. Autobahn Evanston loaned me one for about 90 minutes on Saturday and I really liked it. I admit I liked it more than I thought I would. My R32 already has one of the smoothest and most responsive motors available, but that was nothing compared to the electric motor in the Leaf. Of course it's quite a bit slower than my car, but it didn't feel anywhere near as slow as I was expecting .. I was able to move through traffic extremely easily and had no troubles on I94. It was actively fun to drive .. and I don't just mean the "novelty" of electric, the car itself has a bit of personality and spirit, which I like.
This morning I got a quote for 240v 40amp service in my detached garage: $1300 (there's plenty of space on the panel, but they will need to bury a whole new run); however I believe the state of Illinois will cover half of the installation costs. I know I can charge the Leaf on 110, and I'm fine with that initially, but I will eventually want level 2.
So it seems to be decision time for me. I've never leased a vehicle or even bought one brand new (even my R32 was 2 years old); however the deals now are so great. The EV market is no-where near ready for the masses yet, but it'll get there, and it it'll get there quicker with enough support.
Aside from $200 a month, the other thing I'm questioning at the moment is the general viability of rechargeable batteries. I know it's still very early in the life of this industry; but even if the batteries get 20x more efficient, I still see it being a non-trivial transition for people from ICE to EV. Personally I wonder if hydrogen fuel-cells wouldn't be a better way to go, and if supporting rechargeable EVs might actually be slowing research into hydrogen. Both industries are exciting to watch, and both have serious challenges ahead.
So that's where I stand at the moment. I've been reading these forums for a while now and it seems like a really good and supportive community. I hope I can join you guys soon!
Cameron.