Two Leafs; so we'll have one to drive while the other is in

[GeorgeParrott]

We HAVE both the LEAF and the Volt. We got our LEAF only 3 days ago, but today did ALL of our Saturday shopping with the LEAF and still had 52 miles of range left when we got home. I do use the ECO mode for almost all of my driving and I am careful but today's errands did involve about 20 miles of freeway at 60-66 mph. I am quite impressed with the promise of the LEAF to reduce our major commuting and errands fuel use (from our previous Prius and Camry Hybrids).

We already have 1600 miles on the Volt and have a "lifetime fuel use" of 122 miles/gallon. The Volt is wonderful for the family connection trips we must make between our home in W. Sacramento and the Daly City area (just south of SF proper).

As more Quick Charge points are available the LEAF will be even more able to make longer trips, but the Volt will cover that need (though not as economically as a Prius), and still for 90% of our Volt driving ALWAYS be in full EV mode too !

I would repeat a note that I have made elsewhere on this forum: The LEAF GPS software is 4-5 YEARS out of date for our are in the Sacramento metropolitan area. We should all be lobbying Nissan to get a software upgrade/update ASAP for the GPS system Our Volt software has full details for the streets in this development, so up to date software does exist.

 

[derkraut]

In retrospect---I'm glad I started this thread, even tho' I regret being such a "negative whiner" in my original post. I appreciate everybody's comments. It reminded me that there are two sides to every story.
As pennance for being so negative, I'll always welcome "leafers" who run low on KW while travelling I-15 in vicinity of SR-56 (Ted Williams) in N San Diego County, to stop on by my house for some free "emergency sparks". I'm only 1/2mi off the Poway Rd exit.

 

[LakeLeaf]

If you're not careful there Der - they're going to start calling you Sauer :mrgreen:

 

[akohekohe]

On the cost side, under Hawaii law with an EV I get free parking at my employer, the University of Hawaii at Manoa. This is currently $579 per year. I also get free parking at any other state or county facility including the airport, Aloha stadium, the convention center, Aloha stadium, parking meters, etc., so the parking savings is probably close to $5,000 over the life of the car. This law has no sunset provision so the Legislature will have to pass (and the Governor sign) a law to get rid of it which is unlikely in this state with everyone talking about renewable energy. We also get a $4,500 rebate from the state (and $500 for the charger) and I will get the $7,500 federal tax credit. I also have enough excess capacity in my PV system to power the car (the PV system is a sunk cost so the marginal cost for me to charge the car is zero). Given all that, I think the economics of the LEAF look pretty good. But mostly I got my LEAF because I thought it would be fun to have an electric car. I mostly ride my bicycle everywhere anyway but I really, really, get tired of breathing other people's exhaust not to mention the noise, so I am hoping my early adoption will help make the car a success so there will be a lot more quite, tail-pipeless cars on the road. Oh, did I mention it is fun to drive. I'm also getting a Brammo Enertia electric motorcycle as soon as they are available ...

 

[Uccello]

It will be interesting to see how sales and marketing of future cars by all makers will be affected by the launch of the Leaf. Building early interest and anticipation in the car added to the ease of actual owners sharing their ups and downs is going to fundamentally change how decisions to purchase a car are made in the future. Most of the people on this board threw caution to the wind (and $99) and ordered the car without driving it, without any reviews written about it, without much info at all except that is was going to be blue and seat five people and not have an ICE hidden it there somewhere. Heck, we couldn't even find out the battery capacity or motor size of the Leaf to better size our PV system when we were designing it- it was crazy! We are all first adopters, so we'll find the glitches, run out of juice, invent things that the car should have had but didn't so hopefully in 3 or 4 years the people who buy their cars solely from the reviews in Consumer Reports will have an easier time of it.

I've run out of gas in my Miata a few times because there is no warning light; the starter has died and left me stranded; ditto the 12v battery on both our cars; and clutches, alternators, the list goes on. We have a joke in the house that our BMW is the most hypochondriac vehicle ever made! So I'll cut the Leaf a lot of slack because our car is powered by the San Diego sunshine and hopefully in a couple of years Nissan will reward us first adopters with longer range batteries. (Like GM did with the EV1 in ~1997)

-U

 

[DaveEV]

our car is powered by the San Diego sunshine

Seems like there will be a lot of solar powered Leafs in San Diego... I would venture to guess that at least on this board, the Leaf+PV combo is more popular than not having PV...

 

[TomT]

I feel a poll coming on <G>!

Seems like there will be a lot of solar powered Leafs in San Diego... I would venture to guess that at least on this board, the Leaf+PV combo is more popular than not having PV...

 

[walterbays]

I feel a poll coming on <G>!

Underpromise and overdeliver. That's the MNL way. http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2151

 

[bdgotoh]

5. Larger/roomier than the Leaf.

I thought the Leaf felt the same or better for interior space. I really need the extra 2 inches of front seat head height, I have to slouch to see out of my wife's 2006 Prius. From the online specs the cars are pretty much the same size inside and out with only a couple of exceptions.

We all want electric vehicles to become mainstream, but a lot of the population will only buy into them if they become economically competitive.

I've seen this discussed a lot and I find it a bit confusing. I see a lot of Acuras, Audis, BMWs, Volvos, Infinitis, and Lexus on the road all the time. There are much less expensive and in some cases more reliable cars available, why isn't the price as important with these cars?

 

[tzzhc4]

But--I can't help comparing my 2006 Prius record with what I've read so far about the Leaf:

Is that really a fair comparison though? 2006 was the 9th model year of the Prius so maybe it would be better to make this comparison again in 2020.

 

[ERG4ALL]

Uccello wrote: "...so hopefully in 3 or 4 years the people who buy their cars solely from the reviews in Consumer Reports will have an easier time of it."

If what I saw as an interview from a CR tester continues, I wouldn't look for anyone to buy an EV based on CR. The interviewee stated that EV users will not see any cost savings because the EV will double their electric bill. He even looked shifty as he made the comment, like he was looking to someone off camera. His statement would only make sense if a person's electric bill is somewhere around $40/mo. Before we went green we've had electric bills as high as $350.

If you have a car that gets 20 mpg, to go 80 miles would take 4 gallons. Four gallons at $3.50/gallon equals $14.00. A LEAF at 4.5 mi./kWh requires 17.8 kWh to go 80 miles. Even at $0.15 / kWh, it would only cost $2.67 to go the same distance. How can CR possibly not call that a savings? There's more afoot here than the math, me thinks.

 

[chuck58]

Although I have a Leaf reservation in place (delivery who knows on the east coast) the hybrid argument remains a valid one. I recently purchased a Lexus CT200h that granted is a glorified Prius with nice Lexus touches. I am averaging about 47.5 mpg with the car and can drive it 400 miles on 8 gallons of gas. My gas bill has plummeted from the 20mpg Honda Pilot 2003 I still keep around for trips to Home Depot. The Honda would cost me $80 to go 400 miles while the CT200h is $32 assuming a $4/gallon of gas. If the Leaf costs $4 per hundred miles to run in electricity by my estimates then the cost is $16 per 400 mile trip. Half of the Lexus cost to run. Less CO2 emissions in theory but the whole zero emissions argument must consider the source of the electric power. I could use the Leaf back and forth to work easily. 15 mile one way, 30 mile round trip. Even a side trip or 2 keeps me at 50 miles or less a day. Should be no problem.
Will pure EV take hold? $8-$9 per gallon gas would sure help. But i don't want to see that. All other commodities would skyrocket due to transportation costs.
I am not sure if I will purchase the Leaf. For now the production delays have helped me to put off the decision.
One thing is for sure, we need to get out from under the Arab stranglehold of oil. EV cars, hybrids, whatever it takes.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

Not sure where you are getting your numbers. The cost of charging varies of course depending on what you pay for electricity and how you drive. Seems like quite a few folks here are driving the LEAF for around 2 to 3 cents a mile. We drove 1500 miles last month for about $30. This car blows away any hybrid out there' in terms of cost per mile, it's like getting 200 mpg and that is not including the utter lack of oil changes and other ICE maintenance required by any hybrid. 100% of our electricity is green through our utility.
Hybrids have their place though, but if the LEAF fits your needs it's hard to beat.
G

Although I have a Leaf reservation in place (delivery who knows on the east coast) the hybrid argument remains a valid one. I recently purchased a Lexus CT200h that granted is a glorified Prius with nice Lexus touches. I am averaging about 47.5 mpg with the car and can drive it 400 miles on 8 gallons of gas. My gas bill has plummeted from the 20mpg Honda Pilot 2003 I still keep around for trips to Home Depot. The Honda would cost me $80 to go 400 miles while the CT200h is $32 assuming a $4/gallon of gas. If the Leaf costs $4 per hundred miles to run in electricity by my estimates then the cost is $16 per 400 mile trip. Half of the Lexus cost to run. Less CO2 emissions in theory but the whole zero emissions argument must consider the source of the electric power. I could use the Leaf back and forth to work easily. 15 mile one way, 30 mile round trip. Even a side trip or 2 keeps me at 50 miles or less a day. Should be no problem.
Will pure EV take hold? $8-$9 per gallon gas would sure help. But i don't want to see that. All other commodities would skyrocket due to transportation costs.
I am not sure if I will purchase the Leaf. For now the production delays have helped me to put off the decision.
One thing is for sure, we need to get out from under the Arab stranglehold of oil. EV cars, hybrids, whatever it takes.

 

[planet4ever]

I recently purchased a Lexus CT200h that granted is a glorified Prius with nice Lexus touches. I am averaging about 47.5 mpg with the car and can drive it 400 miles on 8 gallons of gas.
<snip>
One thing is for sure, we need to get out from under the Arab stranglehold of oil. EV cars, hybrids, whatever it takes.

If it is the Arabs you are worried about, hybrids are not going to solve the problem. That 8 gallons of gas still used up nearly half a barrel of oil. Even if hybrids let us cut our use of oil by 50% (which they can't), we would still be importing. And the inescapable fact is that there is way more oil in the Middle East than in all the rest of the world combined. When all of the "nice" countries run out, we will be back to importing from countries we don't want to support. Electricity, on the other hand, is almost never generated from oil, unless you live someplace unique like Hawaii.

Ray

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

interesting that we still compare the cost of gasoline as one of the most important factors in the purchase

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/blog.php?u=291&b=93

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

interesting that we still compare the cost of gasoline as one of the most important factors in the purchase

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/blog.php?u=291&b=93