Nissan Leaf Questions

A friend of mine works for Nissan so leases one for next to nothing and loves it for commuting. He rails on it ~20 miles each way to and from work and charges it for pennies.

 

I have a neighbor that just leased a Fiat 500 electric. A little over 3000 down and you get a rebate back for 2700...not sure if that is a Cali thing? His payments are 89 or 99 per month, I just remember it was less than 100 and ended up only costing him a few hundred to get into.

If my commute were shorter...I'm 43-45 each way, I would get one.

 

I thought the range on the plugins now was about 200 miles. Why is 43-45 miles too much?

Ok, nevermind. 80-140 seems to be the norm, and that's probably driving like an old lady.

 

Test drove it today and pulled the trigger. I'll have a black/black 2017 SV fresh off the truck in a day or two.

 

Yes, I got the sportier one with different wheels, orange mirrors and sporty decals. $500 more than the base model. Fed rebate cuts $7500 off the top. If you put down $2500 which you get back from California, you can lease it for around $169 month with $12,000 miles/yr. Total out of pocket for 3 years is around $5500. My commute is 60 miles round trip. My work provides free charging stations, I make the round trip on one charge with 15-40 miles of buffer. Best feature is carpool lane access sticker for single occupant. Saves me 20 minutes of sitting in traffic each way. 75-80mph with climate control on auto gets me on the low end of buffer, heavy traffic at slower speeds gets me that 40mi buffer. No climate control gets me another 5-10 range. Fiat 500e is California and Oregon only. Considering the free charging and no maintenance, I'm past break even vs the C450 I gave up. No regrets as it wasn't much fun being passed by these electric cars in the carpool lane all day. I have spent a little money on Bilstein coil overs. Stock ride height on the 500e is ridiculous.

 

These seem like a good deal, if I didn't already have a natual gas carpool lane car, I would try and figure out how to charge it during the day while i'm at work. Since it is a lease and you drive over 15K per year based on 60 miles RT, did you pre-purchase additional miles and if so, what rate per mile do they sell those at?

 

I'd totally do the electric car thing. I'd probably get the Kia Soul EV. It's super ugly, but the format seems pretty convenient. Too bad that even with the government incentives, they still are over $30 000 in this neck of the woods. Someday I'll make a move, but not just yet.
Of course electric cars have no soul... but when I'm stuck in trafic, neither do I.

 

Unless your company is giving gas vouchers to those who drive IC engine vehicles, I'd kind of be pissed that you're getting free fuel for your electric car from the company. Why should some employees get free fuel and not others? But, if I were in your shoes, I'd go for it.

 

Because a company is allowed to have policies that encourage certain values it deems important.

 

Yep, same way not everyone gets the same wages, bonus, vacation time, company car, perks, etc. That is the way it goes with capitalism.

 

I work for the power company.

 

Of course. I hope I didn't come across as an asshole, definitely wasn't intended.

I'd go for the Leaf as well. Seems like a great deal.

 

You did.

 

wife does accounting for the power company and we leased one 2 years ago when the state was offering a $5k tax credit. according to her it was a no brainer. cost us a bit less than $100 a month for the car. Biggest advantage for her is being able to use the HOV lanes. Our lease is up but we extended it and are looking into buying one outright as she's really gotten used to the HOV lane usage.

the car itself is fun to drive. I'd say the low end acceleration is good till maybe 40-50 but then it hits a bit of a wall. nimble car (weight is low) and decent power (fun to light up the tires on some turns at slow to mid speed) if you drive it like it's not energy efficient. It wants you to drive it nice, but if you don't care about the range and just romp on it, it's fun. She had an E46 M3 convertible 6speed manual prior to the Leaf. She wants something sporty again (anyone see a good deal on a 997.2 white cab let me know) but she enjoys the leaf for what it is, cheap transportation. Daughter (8) likes it a lot, it's super quiet, lots of room, and a good stereo.

We just use the 110 charger that comes with the car but she only commutes about 15 miles each way and can charge it at work on the level 2 or 3 if needed. Not the best if it's your only car but as a commuter it's great. We use it a LOT on the weekends. I could see a day in the not so distant future where you use an electric self driving car to uber back and forth to work and in towns.

BTW Zero maintenance on the car for 2 years. Like ZERO. not even tire rotation. Ok, I did put air in the tires a couple of times, but other than that, it's never seen a dealership or gas station or anything like that. No oil changes, no brakes, no nothing.

 

Minivans rule

 

It's comforting to know that you never put gas in an electric vehicle, and no oil either....is this some kind of prank?

 

I wonder if you could put an EU2000 in the trunk and run a cord to the charge port to increase the range?? Theres your fossil fuel solution!

 

more just a comparison to my other vehicles. I do get a kick out of the fact that of my 7 tags I have to pay for each year, only one has to have emissions checked.

and I forgot I did pull into a gas station one time in the Leaf, I had to clean the windshield. I went in and bought a drink as a thank you.