I leased a 2013 Leaf SV (Black) with the LED/Quick Charge package on April 6th. So far, I couldn't be more pleased. Not terribly original, but we named it Wattson (My 2001 Honda Insight was named Elektra and my 2010 Prius is named Miles because of the high mileage and it is "Kinda Blue".)
The only disappointment I've had is that I misread a PDF on the nissanusa website and thought the SV included the rearview camera and it doesn't seem to be available as an aftermarket install. I've been spoiled by the rearview cam in the 2010 Prius that my wife is now driving, so I'm missing it, but the lease is only for 2 years, I'll think I'll survive.
After a few days of communiting I did the math on household money savings and carbon footprint reductions, and the results knocked my socks off. My commute is 10 miles to and from.
Copy/pasted from my Facebook posts...
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The mileage listed is the actual average mileage we get out of these cars, not the EPA estimates. My wife drives less efficiently than I, so I factored that in. We drive very little most weekends, so the monthly numbers in the text below are for 20 days a month. So, imagine a few dollars more per week for a few extra miles most weekends, and the occasional road trip (always in the Prius) and imagine the related savings along with it.
Me:
Leaf
$0.11 cents per kwh / 4.7miles per kwh = $0.023 cents per mile x 20 miles per day = .46 cents per day x 20 days = $9.20 per month x 12 = $110.40 per year
Prius
$4.00 per gallon / 50mpg = $0.080 cents per mile x 20 miles per day = $1.60 per day x 20 days = $32.00 per month x 12 = $384 per year
$22.80 saved per month
$273.00 saved per year
Her:
Prius
$4.00 per gallon / 47mpg = $.085 cents per mile x 14 miles per day = $1.19 per day x 20 days = $23.80 per month x 12 = $285.60 per year
Mazda5
$4.00 per gallon / 19mpg = $0.210 cents per mile x 14 miles per day = $2.94 per day x 20 days = $58.80 per month x 12 = $705.60 per year
$35.00 saved per month
$420.00 saved per year
Totals:
Total monthly savings: $57.80
Total yearly savings: 693.60
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The mileage listed is the actual average mileage we get out of these cars, not the EPA estimates. My wife drives less efficiently than I, so I factored that in. We drive very little most weekends, so the monthly numbers below are for 20 days a month. So, imagine a few extra miles most weekends, and the occasional road trip (always in the Prius) and imagine the related reductions in co2 along with it.
Burning a gallon of gas emits 19.564 pounds of carbon dioxide. (This does not include the 2.6539 pounds of co2 emitted when turning oil into 1 gallon of gasoline.)
Me:
Leaf = 0 lbs of co2 per mile*
Prius
19.564 lbs of co2 per mile / 50mpg = .391 lbs of co2 per mile x 20 miles per day = 7.82 lbs per day x 20 days = 156.4 lbs per month x 12 = 1876.8 lbs of co2 per year
156.4 fewer lbs of co2 per month
1876.8 fewer lbs of co2 per year
She:
Prius
19.564 lbs of co2 per mile / 47mpg = .4162 lbs of co2 per mile x 14 miles per day = 5.83 lbs per day x 20 days = 116.6 lbs per month x 12 = 1399.2 lbs of co2 per year
Mazda5
19.564 lbs of co2 per mile / 19mpg = 1.02 lbs of co2 per mile x 14 miles per day = 14.28 lbs per day x 20 days = 285.6 lbs per month x 12 = 3427.2 lbs of co2 per year
169 fewer lbs of co2 per month
2028 fewer lbs of co2 per year (1.014 Tons)
Totals:
325.4 fewer lbs of co2 per month
3904.8 fewer lbs of co2 per year (1.95 Tons)!
*Our electric company still produces about 15% of its electricity with coal, but the rest is hydro, wind, nuclear etc. We pay a little extra for their "green power" program, which is essentially buying carbon offsets equivalent to 1 year of carbon output by an average combustion engine 4 door car. So after the offset, the carbon footprint of our Leaf is less than zero. I kept it at zero for this math.
