Three months ago Scott and I bought a 2015 Nissan Leaf electric car with 36,000 miles on it and an 80 mile range. It cost $3800 plus $300 in fees and licensing in MN. It was supposed to have a 30% EV tax break too, although we were not able to get the paperwork for that. However 2500 miles and 3 months later we are thrilled with "Leafer."
My estimate for driving costs is about 1/4 that of my 2011 Impala as I get 3.5 miles per kilowatt hour of charge, costing me about 13cents per KWH. We assume that 70 miles is the safe range on a full charge and have not used it to go anywhere that needed a charge along the way, although we know several places we could do that.
Most of my driving and much of Scott's is in the 70 mile range and so Leafer gets used more than the other two cars and truck we have. It is very easy to drive, maintenance free so far, and a pleasure to drive past gas stations.
The internet says that on gasoline alone, with 10,000 miles per year it saves approximately $850 in energy costs.
Since we bought Leafer, we have noticed that instead of 12 bars (the indicator for battery condition), it has dropped to 11, meaning the battery is about 80% of a new one. However the range does say 80 miles when driven at 45 mph in eco mode, and we do get at least 65 when driving at highway speeds.
With winter coming, it will be interesting to see how Leafer deals with that. My plan is to turn on the heater, heated steering wheel, and heated seats while it is still plugged in and in the garage to let it warm up on outlet power rather than draining the battery - plugged into our level 2 charger rather than a regular outlet so more power is available.
We did buy and install a Level 2 (meaning 3 hour from empty to full charge) charger to use when we are in a rush to recharge rather than using the regular 120v overnight level 1 charger. Mostly we drive it on our daily errands and then plug it after the day is over and it is ready in the morning again.
I haven't had any problems with Leafer so far. I do sometimes drive it down to where it warns me it needs charging -- maybe 8% battery left. However, I think, like a car gas gauge, it has some reserve charge to get another 10 miles or so, before dropping into turtle mode which is intended to get one another few miles slowly. I haven't had that happen. My longest trips are to Siren and back for the writer's group. I travel the whole trip at highway speeds - about 60mph - about 60 miles. I do get down to the charge warning as I near home, but still have some capacity left when I arrive at home. If I was getting low, I could drive at 45mph and eek out some more miles on the last leg of the trip.
I am very pleased with Leafer, being an EV person, and although my primary reason for EV is freedom from the gas station, I do like the idea that EVs over the long run are much less damaging to the environment than my Impala. And or course having almost no maintenance like oil changes, plugs, mufflers etc, that frees me from costs and labor.
The 2026 Nissan Leaf is about $30,000 and 300 mile range. Should I sell my MN house that would likely be one of my purchases where I essentially freed myself from gasoline cars completely except for my 1999 Dodge truck with its trailer hitch.
Yes, I am a convert to Electric Vehicles.
