Nissan Leaf Owners/Drivers

[RAFH]

GF just bought a 2012 Nissan Leaf. Anybody out there own or drive one?

[osmanthus]

Tell her that unless your electricity generation is CO2-free, an EV will be worse for the environment than a hybrid.

(which is generally true)

[RAFH]

Tell her that unless your electricity generation is CO2-free, an EV will be worse for the environment than a hybrid.

(which is generally true)

Unless, of course, your petrol wasn't refined via hydro or some similar heat source. And then wasn't transported via electric vehicles. And in non-leaking, non crashing tankers.

Much of the juice she'll be using is from hydro plants. There's lots of falling water around here. Her work, in Seattle, will provide charging at no cost. Trickle only but that's more than sufficient given an 8 hour shift.

In any case, that wasn't a significant factor. Mostly economical to operate, low energy cost, low maintenance cost (until the battery dies but it appears to be in very good condition despite the age), high reliability (she works for a place where showing up on time is mandatory, meteor strikes, nuclear war and R9 earthquakes are not viable excuses, unless, of course, the place she works at is destroyed), great features, not having to buy gas ever again, it was in great condition, had very low miles and the price was right along with some favorable financing.

It's primarily a commuter car for her 40 mile round trip. There's also some perks with the electric company. Plus it's a fun little bugger to drive. Kinda spooky being so quiet.

Downside, mostly the range, 70 miles, maybe a little more if one is really really careful. And has a tail wind and just two people on board and no big hills. Certainly not a road trip vehicle, nor something you try to transport big heavy items or lots of people with, but we have one of those already. It's not a family car. But for one person commuting, it works.

[osmanthus]

Fair enough. As soon as they start making 4wd EV's that have a 300 mile range and can carry a ton of stuff in the tray, I'd love to have one myself.

[RAFH]

Fair enough. As soon as they start making 4wd EV's that have a 300 mile range and can carry a ton of stuff in the tray, I'd love to have one myself.

Well, there is that Tesla Model 3, but I'm not sure it's got the ground clearance you would probably like, nor will it carry a ton. Perhaps 3/4 with no passengers. Of course, you'll be a lot lighter, without all the cash to carry around.

Actually, I'm very impressed with the Leaf, but in the vein of your post, the one downside is the range. If it had 150 miles, it would be a possible for road tripping. Drive 2-1/2 hours, hit a rest stop with a charge station, hang out for 30 minutes, take off again. Need to stop about that often anyway these days.

There is an aftermarket company that's supposedly got an extra battery, that doubles the range, but it's not cheap. And if Nissan works a bit more on their new models and batteries, hopefully they will make them so they can be retro'd. Or, as I saw online, there's a German company producing a fuel cell that runs on methanol that puts out something like 3.5KW. And it's about the size of a small suitcase.

[osmanthus]

Well the Tesla has ludicrous amounts of power, and still has a range up around 230 miles IIRC. So a basic farm ute with a 300 mile range should be perfectly feasible. That'd get me halfway to Sydney on one charge, and that's about as far as any sane person really wants to drive in a day anyway. If they can make affordable and versatile EV's with that sort of range, there should be a pretty big market for them.

[osmanthus]

Hey I was wrong about the range, at least for the Tesla S. The basic model (which is not really "basic" in any sane sense of the word, but anyway) has a range of 440 km (275 miles) and you can upgrade that to 530 km (328 miles). So they're already in the 300 mile ballpark. Easy.