I'm a traitor I guess

Well, I went and did it.....
I bought an all electric car. A Nissan Leaf.
I thought I'd share what I've learned in case there is any interest.

Started out looking for something that would have double or better the 20mpg that I was getting in my Van.
Figured that gas is only going to go up and judging by some of the prices in Calif I guess that was a good guess.

After looking at several high mpg cars, we took a peak at Hybrids. We already have a Prius which my wife drives and gets a constant 52 to 54 mpg and we even thought of getting another but I'm a bit taller and feel a bit cramped driving hers.

We stopped by the Chevy dealer and drove a volt which I actually liked and asked the guy for his best price with no trade in. Cash deal.....
His best offer was 46K and change.

KA CHOKE....almost a gag reflex......FOR A MIDSIZE? 46K???

We left and headed home but passed a Nissan dealer and took a peek at the Leaf.
A lot more car than I thought. Felt heavy and firm on the road. Acceleration was about the same as the Prius. Snapped up to about 80 coming onto the freeway ramp. Not Bad!
Electronics is a home run. It has several ways to monitor battery condition and how much cruising range is left. GPS looks at surrounding topog and predicts how far you can drive which what's left. It even shows charging stations on the map and a display which shows charging station distance and then cruising range that's left.
My android app also shows the charging stations in different color....gray is in use and green is available.

Cruising range is about 100 miles or perhaps a bit more. I always like to return home with a little "gas in the tank".
I purchased this model as I travel into town four times a week and sometimes twice a day. I never seem to go more than 60 miles anyway so this really works out.

Charging stations are few and far between so I put in my own.
There are three types of chargers Level 1 2 & 3.
The first is a charger that comes with the car and gives a full charge over night.
It plugs into a normal outlet.
Second one (the kind I purchased) plugs into an outlet for 220 volts. A washer or dryer plug is required. This one will take you to a full charge in less than six hours from completely dead. Three to four hours if you have 25 percent charge.

You're looking about two bucks for a full charge of electricity. Zero cost if you have a wind or solar generator.
The third kind is the "Rapid" charger. Completely dead to full charge in less than 45 minutes.
Our State of Washington is putting in a huge number of these rapid chargers along the rest stops in our state. Most chargers do not currently ask a fee for recharging.
It's free.

Those that do ask a couple of bucks which can be paid with a special card that is swiped and draws payment from a pre paid account.

Now...The purchase.....


So, I asked the guy.....HOW much? "Well" he says, "It's 38K and change". I gulp and he sees me getting ready to leave and adds that there is a 7500 dollar rebate for this car. I sit back down....."Write it up" I say.
The guys says he's not done yet? He adds that there is also no state sales tax right now on all electric. We drive out and down the road for 27, 500 and change.

I've had the car for a little over two months now and I base my savings on the 20 mpg I got from my Van. I've saved about 800 bucks in gas so far.

One of the other amazing things to me is the maintenance on the unit....
Almost none. The sales guy informs me that you have to rotate the tires and add washer fluid, though.....duh....
Other than that, none. It has no transmission and the motor is brushless.
I was worried about the battery and I find out that it comes with a 100K mile 8 year warranty. I inquire about the replacement costs and he informs me that "it depends"? Ah, more sales double talk.....
No, it's that Nissan has built the battery pack with 32 individual Lithium Ion cells.
The battery pack can be dropped down for trouble shooting and ONE cell or more can be replaced instead of the whole pack. The electronic cluster monitors voltage so it will tell you.

I still have my van for trips where I know I will be on the road more than 100 miles but I find I'm driving the leaf about 95 percent of the time. Allot more than I thought.

I'm giving this one a thumbs up on everything. It does everything I expected and a bit more.

YouTube Drive home......
Electric Car, First drive, K7PP Page - YouTube


Cheers,

Not throwing stones, but I can't help wondering about long term costs and what happens at the end of the life cycles especially with the batteries.

It does sound like Nissan has a better idea on the battery pack than some others, where they monitor and service individual lithium cells, but I too wonder the cost of that cell, and how many are carried? When I asked a Chevy dealer about battery replacement and cost his answer was, "We don't know yet, because we have no history." Sorry, but they know their battery cost and can assign a service time to the R&R. The unknowns might be any cost associated with disposal of the depleted cells, which are classified hazardous waste and have to be disposed of accordingly, at least at this time.

Good job shopping and finding a solution to your concerns. This made me look into the whole electric thing!
For now I will be staying with my gas engine.

With that kind of warranty on the batteries, sure does make things a lot more appealing! Been thinking about looking at some of the electric an hybrid stuff, a lot of my driving is just around our little town. Can't really see where I'd ever go past the 100 mile range in a normal day. I'd keep the rest of the fleet for travelling, long trips, etc. Also thinking how hard it is here in our miserable winters running all these short trips on the car or truck.....

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Originally Posted by rspears

It does sound like Nissan has a better idea on the battery pack than some others, where they monitor and service individual lithium cells, but I too wonder the cost of that cell, and how many are carried? When I asked a Chevy dealer about battery replacement and cost his answer was, "We don't know yet, because we have no history." Sorry, but they know their battery cost and can assign a service time to the R&R. The unknowns might be any cost associated with disposal of the depleted cells, which are classified hazardous waste and have to be disposed of accordingly, at least at this time.

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Dunno about the prices up there,,but I heard of a guy having to replace the battery in a seven year old Prius down here in NZ,,and a genuine Toyota battery was around $7000,,a pirate battery being around $3500/4000..:whacked::whacked:No thanks,,stick with my Petrol/LPG engines..:cool:;);)

After looking around we bought an eAssist Buick LaCrosse. I was not interested in anything electric, until they mentioned the 8 year 100% warranty on anything dealing with the electric side of the car. I figure we won't keep it past that anyway, so we thought we'd take a chance. It's a 4 banger, but with the electric assist it does fine on the open road. The eAssist gas mileage is 11 MPG more than the V-6 & the sticker price was more for the V-6 also. After about 5 months of driving & a week of vacation last week, we're pretty happy with it so far.

It really matters where you live, doesn't it? For me, I would have a really hard time dealing with a nominal 100mile range. It's almost 60miles door to door to my daughter's home in North KC, so to go there & back I would have to mooch some plug time from them, right? A day of errands might easily be in the 150 to 200 mile range in a metro area. Now if I lived in the more rural area where I grew up, generating 50 miles in a day would be a lot!! Seems to me that the hybrids, which have both sources, make more sense in a metro area?

I drive 32 miles one way to work. So I could not get 2 days without having to charge it. Work would not let me charge it there so it would have to be charged every night. What about charge memory on the batteries? If you keep charging it when you are just over half a charge, would the battery memory come into effect? Then it would only take half a charge load? Maybe that does not apply to this type of battery?

I wonder how much you could increase the range by fitting solar cells on the car

Bob, funny you should mention that....There is a small solar panel on the top of the car that keeps the 12 volt part of the electrical system charged. If it's topped off then it draws less current from the main banks inverter. Nice touch.
Well, I got 116 miles the other day but was almost flat when I pulled in the driveway. Still, I take a charger with me where ever I go.

Here's a link to a really good site. I've met the guy who runs it at a car show this summer and got to see his home brew electric Geo.
Nice work.
This site has all the stuff you might want to know about the electric car.


http://seva101.org/

Well, It's been 11 months since I got the car. No problems with the battery. It still has the same capacity as it did when I got it. I'm still getting over 100 miles on a charge. During the winter I ran the electric heater most of the time and it dropped the cruising range to 70 miles but that's plenty for my 45 mile round trip to town.
One thing of note is that the number of electric charging stations is increasing. I found one at Costco, the County Jail, Starbucks and McDonalds as well as a new station at the Rest stop at Vancouver Washington.
They are poping up at many of the rest stops and appear to be installed by the State. Cost to charge is still zero on all these public chargers.
I found an after market site that is making a battery that fits in the rear boot space and provides an extra 50 mile cruising range. Things are shaping up. I've saved 1700.00 in fuel costs this year so far.

PP.

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Originally Posted by dogtag

.... Things are shaping up. I've saved 1700.00 in fuel costs this year so far.
PP.

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And thank you very much for making an extra $1700 in fossil fuel available for me to use in my hot rod!:LOL::LOL:;):LOL::LOL:

what Roger said :LOL:

If I lived in a big city and needed a commuter and an electric car would cover the daily trip there and back, no doubt what I'd be driving!!!! The price of electricity to charge a battery is a whole lot more stable then the price of gasoline!!!!

Thanks for the update on the car, wondered how it was working out for you!

Thanks for the observation, Dave. Yeah, I didn't get rid of my van. I have to run into Seattle several times a month and that's a bit far for the electric. 155 miles one way. If they end up putting some more super rapid chargers in some of the rest stops, I may reconsider.
Right now I have my choice of at least 200 six hour chargers that are available along the way but I don't have the patience to wait...LOL.
I guess it boils down to the right vehicle for the right job.
You should just stop at a Nissan dealer and drive one just for the entertainment factor.

Might just do that someday!!! For running errands and chasing parts around this little town it would work out fine, even going out to the lake for the afternoon is well within range.