johnrhansen said:
I only live 5 miles from work too, but I don't ride my bike. I have to be at work at 6 am, and I prefer not to ride in the dark, during the coldest part of the day. Call me wimpy.. but I do live in rainy Seattle! I still somehow managed to put 20,000 miles on my leaf in the past 14 months. It's cheap transportation. You might be driving it on trips where you and your wife go together too. Who says gas is going to remain cheap during the next few years. Lots of geopolitical stuff going on right now.
20,000 miles in 14 months with a 10 mile commute? Wow, you must make a
lot of extra trips around town!
Your rather unusual experience aside, one problem with a very short commute and a LEAF is that the car isn't really cost-effective for low annual miles. I do about 7000 miles a year and the car isn't remotely cost-effective in any way, not even close. I bought it because I wanted to drive electric and was willing to pay (a lot!) for the privilege. The folks with long commutes who do 12k or more miles a year can often make pretty good cases for savings on gas paying for a LEAF lease.
I agree with GRA that five miles each way is bicycle territory (I
walked a commute a bit farther than that two days a week, bicycled three days a week, some years back). I did a bicycle commute for 20+ years (rain, snow, lightning, dark-of-night...). [I am the only person I know who bought a house based on the bicycle commute (didn't want to be too close to work, wanted a pleasant route with mountain views in the morning).]
But if a bicycle just doesn't cut it, for whatever reason (some women have valid safety concerns, for example) the OP should just be aware that a low miles-per-year LEAF is something of an expensive luxury.
My 2¢.