Titanium48 wrote:I'm not sure I'd look at a Leaf as an occasional use vehicle. Even a 10 bar Leaf will probably cost you significantly more than an older but still running ICE car, and if you are only going to drive it a couple thousand miles a year you aren't really benefitting from the lower operating costs and environmental advantages of an EV. Then there is the problem of "calendar loss" (you will lose some battery capacity over time whether you drive the car or not), and this is accelerated when you leave a Leaf at a very high or low SOC. Avoiding this requires you to charge the car to about 50% when you get home, unplug it, and remember to charge it again before you need to use it next.
I would look at a Leaf as your primary vehicle for short trips, and your Outback as the vehicle you will use for things the Leaf has difficulty with (long trips, hauling stuff), or when you both need a car at the same time. If you have at least 8000 miles or so per year of short trips you could use a Leaf for, preferably on a regular schedule so you can schedule charging as well, then I'd go for the Leaf. You will save on fuel, save wear and tear on the Outback and get to drive a really cool car. However, if you aren't going to drive it regularly I'd look for another cheap beater ICE vehicle as your backup car.
Those are good points, and we're looking at that side too. It's entirely possible that we do wind up using the Leaf for additional short-haul trips. So if anything, we're could indeed be driving the Leaf more. My inclination would still be to go EV if we can find the right car for the right price. As you say, we may well wind up driving it more, so I'd figure we'd then start seeing more advantage out of having the EV than an older ICE. We've also been talking for a while about trying to move toward the hybrid or EV direction, and if it took a falling cedar limb to do it, well, there you go
