My car insurance also went down $100 a year by switching from a 3-year-old used Honda Civic to a new Nissan Leaf.
Also, my best estimate is that my wife and I stand to save about $2,300 a year in operating costs by trading in my Civic for the Leaf. Part of these savings will come from aggressively using the Leaf almost everywhere we go, while limiting the use of her CRV to under 3,000 miles a year. Part of this will also come from massively cheap electricity through a Con Edison/Fleet Carma partnership that bills EV charging between midnight and 8 AM at effectively 2 cents per kWh in my area.
Did I do OK? This is the first new car I've ever owned. Two years ago I was driving a 2001 Honda Civic.
I debated for a long time whether to get a 40 kWh Leaf or 62 kWh Leaf Plus. At the end of the day, my wife and I drive about 19,000 miles a year, and through some smart reorganization of our car usage, we can do 16,000 of those miles in the 40 kWh Leaf, while we could do 17,000 miles in the Leaf Plus. The lowest total out of pocket cost I could find for a Leaf Plus S was about $27,000 (after the federal tax credit), and this was just too much money for me to spend on a car, especially for one that would only allow me to drive 1,000 more electric miles a year. I was also underwhelmed by the Leaf Plus' somewhat choppy ride and somewhat stiff driver's seat.
In terms of Leaf Spy, are these the things I should be buying?
OBD Dongle:
https://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products-Bluetooth-Diagnostic-Scanner/dp/B005NLQAHS
Leaf Spy Pro:
https://www.amazon.com/Turbo3-Leaf-Spy-Pro/dp/B00PMLTPN0
Cheap Android: which ones are best these days? I have a Kindle Fire from 2014. Can I use that?
And it's my understanding that I need to get an extension cord that I would leave plugged in always, that was I don't damage the OBD port by constantly plugging in and unplugging the dongle. Is that right? If so, what kind?
Thanks for any and all suggestions.