Is anyone abandoning the Leaf due to gas price dropping?

Reaching out to see who's ready to jump leaf with the drop in gas prices, here in the islands the prices are still higher than the main land, but dropped a lot. there's a lot of leafs on craigslist, but there's been a huge spike in Tesla sales, some owners state they purchased in California, cause the wait is to long. I'll stick with the leaf for a bit longer, cause...well it's another thread.
so please add your input drivers.

mod note: renamed thread title from "abandoning the Leaf due to gas price dropping" to "Is anyone abandoning the Leaf due to gas price dropping?" to reflect the variety of responses in the thread.

I never run my.leaf on empty..usually at 20% at the lowest. up to 80% at night toll morning off peak. my pge is 10cent/kwh

Not me. I did start http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21280, BTW.

For those two folks in my first post there, it had NOTHING to do w/gas prices, which were higher anyway when they decided to get rid of their Leaf early or decided they were no longer interested in driving their Volt.

Why would I move away? Charging's free at my work. What would I buy that's reasonably cheap that matches the Leaf in terms of NVH when accelerating and also has a stereo w/similar sound quality and Around View Monitor? (My current Leaf was cheap at $9325 + tax and license. IIRC, it ended up being at ~$10.4K w/all that.)

Should I go back to driving my 10 year old Prius daily (vs. it mostly sitting) instead? :?: The Prius makes quite a racket when accelerating, in comparison. It doesn't have XM radio nor does it have all the Bluetooth integration (phone calls only as A2DP protocol didn't even exist back then) nor Around View Monitor.

I'd say for us it is the opposite.The low cost of gas and resulting lower demand for leafs is actually making us consider getting another one.

I've seen some ridiculously low prices for used leafs at auction (2013 SL with 25k miles for like $8k, 2011 S with 35k miles for $4.5k). With my buddy being an independent dealer he can grab an auction one for us and just charge a small fee for his trouble and my wife drives less than 20 miles a day on 95% of days so even a degraded leaf is up to the task easily. We may soon be a 2-leaf household and just hold on to the pickup truck (paid off years ago) for hauling stuff and longer trips.

Gas would have to drop to $0.50/gal (and stay there) before fuel costs for a conventional car would match the Leaf's fuel costs here in Memphis, TN.

Not going back to gasoline. Not ever. I love not having to go to a nasty gas station every week.

Much less maintenance. Much less time spent refueling the Leaf. No noxious odors. Very quiet. Regular cars are too loud for me now that I'm used to the quiet of driving the Leaf (but I could do with less motor/gear whine...).

For me gas prices were a factor but not the most compelling factor - quiet, no maintenance, inherently simpler propulsion system, electric motor should outlast the car, charge at home - were things that spoke to me. I use my Leaf primarily as a local car and for me it's worked out great.

No immediate plans simply due to the drop in gas prices; even here in a high gas tax state. More 'concern' is just what others considering a used LEAF are now looking at; depreciation as an early adopter makes my '12 SL which 'cost' me full MSRP of over $37K isn't worth as near as much now as the much less expensive ICE I traded for it originally --- granted I calculated my 'out of pocket' after the Fed Tax credit, IL EV rebate (no longer available, no IL state budget) and that trade-in as around $17K but I would hate to have an accident where my car gets totaled ... I suppose you could look at perhaps buying a now value depressed used one as a replacement but would not have much cash to do it from the insurance payout. As a daily 3-season commuter it still does quite well -- it was parked today due to freezing rain and possibility of more snow; after a few days of very mild temps, the GOM (with the loss of its first battery capacity bar) showed an amazing 93 miles of range which of course is way too optimistic. We have 'fixed' rates for our electricity (just under 7 cents/kWh) so gas prices would need to be along the lines of Venezuela (after subsidies) before driving an EV would be more expensive than a high-mileage ICE; and besides being able to charge from home, quiet operation, minimal maintenance, etc. would need to be factored in as well.

Most of the time I don't even know how much gas costs. It isn't on my radar because I only buy some every few months for a long trip in my Toyota Camry. That's the beauty of owning a Leaf: I don't care how much gas costs.

Actually in my area anyway gas prices have jumped up almost 60% in the last month, actually what seems like the last couple weeks. Its been jumping up 20 cents a crack, drops a few pennies and then back up 20 cents. It started below $1.30/gallon several weeks ago and is now at $1.99.
I'm so glad to be out of the damn gas price game, a major station(almost always SA/Speedway) jumps up 20c and everyone follows, the following days SA/Speedway starts dropping a few pennies a day and everyone follows. This goes on for a few days followed by another 20c jump by SA/Speedway and everyone else follows, rinse and repeat!
When I was mainly driving a ICE vehicle and filling up bi-weekly it would never fail, I'd think about filling up and they'd jump that day :x No I'm sooooo glad to be mostly be done with that crap. As others have also mentioned, gas prices are only part of the reason I have no interest in going back. My wife drives a Prius which generally only needs filling monthly(if that) but every time I drive it I'm reminded how much I like my Leaf, it's quiet operation(the Prius makes such a racket when accelerating) and stealth low end power. It's possible in the long term the Leaf may cost me more money than say a Corolla, but I don't care. My Leaf is sure to cost much less than many other ICE vehicles, especially ones with the features the Leaf has.
I'm currently in the market for a non existent vehicle to replace my Leaf as I really need something with more cargo than my Leaf, several electric vans in the works but nothing really available now, no more ICE's for me(well maybe a plug in EV like Pacifica mini van) but I'd really prefer an all electric and be done with having to worry if gas is going to jump up today or if I could wait until tomorrow to fill. If I could get a plug in vehicle with at least a 30-40 mile range I still wouldn't have to worry much about gas prices although I'd probably still have the maintenance of a ICE vehicle, something I'd rather avoid.

Gas prices are cheap now but only for enough time for many of the domestic suppliers to idle their equipment and the sheep(people) to replace their smaller more energy efficient vehicles with larger gas guzzling models, at which point the price of gas will jump back up, rinse and repeat..........

GTLeafMem said:

Gas would have to drop to $0.50/gal (and stay there) before fuel costs for a conventional car would match the Leaf's fuel costs here in Memphis, TN.

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Depends on the gas car. I'm also in TN, just the other end of the state.

For me, my gas car is a Prius with very efficient LRR tires on 15" rims vs my Leaf on inefficient tires on 16" rims. I can spend hundreds of dollars buying 15" rims and tires for the Leaf and may do so but gas prices affect my thinking.

As is I'm paying 10 cents / kwh at home and free charging at work. If I charge mostly at home I'm facing about 1.9 cent per mile on the Leaf. With the Prius to get 4 cents per mile gas had to be around $2.50. At $1.25 per gallon gas my Prius is about the same cost to run as the Leaf just not as nice a car (I hate hearing the gas engine come on, weaker acceleration, no bluetooth or heated steering wheel, I'd actually have to pump gas more often)

I figure below $1.25 a gallon I'd drive the Prius over the Leaf if the temp outside is going to be over 75F but only for trips over 5-10 miles one way. I'd still use the Leaf for going on short run errands (Groceries, lunch, gym on non work days).

At $1.00 a gallon or less I'd drive the Prius over the Leaf no matter the temp for trips over 5 miles one way.

I guess gas would have to drop below $0.50 a gallon for me to stop using the Leaf for short trips.

I just don't see gas getting cheap enough that I totally stop driving the Leaf, maybe I switch which vehicle is primary but I'd never stop driving the Leaf.

Drilling has already stopped or greatly slowed in many places. 18 months down the road many of the existing wells will have stopped producing. At some point it will go the other way and prices will go up.

It also depends on the country. Fuel is cheap in the US but expensive in many countries. EV sales in europe are doing well.

JMHO

Gas prices will never be low enough to be a cost incentive to switch back from EV to ICE. In 2.5 years and 35,000 miles we have spent $0.00 on maintenance on the Leaf. Tire rotation free at Discount Tire. Driving environment fairly clean so no need to change air filter. Regen allows us to use brakes VERY little. Tires are in GREAT shape and will last many more miles.

On the other hand, our ICE we drive much less and yet still pay way too much for maintenance.

As was stated above, the per mile cost of electricity is very cheap, in my case between $0.03 and $0.04 per mile, or the equivalent of $0.75 to $1.00 per gallon compared to our ICE at 25 mpg. If gas was $0.50 per gallon it would still be more expensive than the Leaf when you add in the maintenance costs.

We are now EV forever. Every year we take one or two trips across the country driving and end up renting an ICE car for these trips. Total mileage for the trips range from 2,000 to 6,000 miles in one to two weeks. For us this works great. ICE for long hauls and all our local driving is EV only.

Gas Prices at the time might have been the incentive for me to jump to EV, but I wanted an EV because I wanted an EV. ;-)

Love driving electric, and don't plan on going back.. Even if gas is ever cheaper than electric, I'll stay EV.

desiv

Gas would need to be under $1.00 for me to be interested in driving my ICE over Leaf and even then it would only be for trips over 50+ miles. Under 50 mile trips would still be with the Leaf.

I currently try to use the Leaf for 99% of my driving. The majority of my ICE driving is just to keep it active once every 1 to 2 weeks. I feel like I really don't need it but keep it because it's paid off, it's not worth selling at market price, and it's a bigger CUV for when we need it but it's been rare lately.

Like others, charging at work is free for me and I use the NCTC program when I'm out and need a QC.

I've only paid $4.00 to charge my Leaf in 6,700 miles and 10 months.

desiv said:

Love driving electric, and don't plan on going back..

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This. I just came back from a week-long trip in which I had to use my 2006 Audi. Having had an electric car of some sort for over 3 years, driving that car again (it was my daily driver before I went EV) was actually starting to annoy me, particularly in city traffic. I get back into my eGolf yesterday for the first time in over a week, and I was amazed by how quiet it was and how easy it was to drive in the city.

Staying out of a gas station is worth it alone.
Avoiding all the BS service at the dealer is priceless.

Even if gas was free I would drive electric

Its still cheaper to drive my Leaf, especially since most of our charging is done at work where the power is free, but even given that, the savings of maintenance and wear and tear on an ICE car is still worth it, even though I'm saving a lot more on my second ICE car right now. Also the driving experience of an EV is superior in almost every case. That being said, I'm a bit bummed that I'm not going to be able to sell me Leaf at a net zero loss in a couple years, but heh, driving around a new EV for a few years and only losing a few grand in the process is still a pretty good deal.

desiv said:

Gas Prices at the time might have been the incentive for me to jump to EV, but I wanted an EV because I wanted an EV. ;-)

Love driving electric, and don't plan on going back.. Even if gas is ever cheaper than electric, I'll stay EV.

desiv

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Desiv,
when I visited the Nissan headquarters back in 2010, they were demonstrating the battery units, and you the user were suppose to be able to replace as they went bad, me and another guy were designing a solar/electric boat, and approached nissan for the batteries, they said 2012 would be avail...well seen how they are being generous with the batteries.

Some awesome inputs drivers, I agree with all of youz-guyz,
I own an 87 jeep, that I rebuilt from the ground up, and put a new dash in,,,,tired of vehicle maint. just not into oil changes, trans. fluid!

I love the instant take off, the park and charge, and pissing off terrorists cause not buying their oil and funding their craziness.

grandizer52 said:

desiv said:

Gas Prices at the time might have been the incentive for me to jump to EV, but I wanted an EV because I wanted an EV. ;-)

Love driving electric, and don't plan on going back.. Even if gas is ever cheaper than electric, I'll stay EV.

desiv

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Desiv,
when I visited the Nissan headquarters back in 2010, they were demonstrating the battery units, and you the user were suppose to be able to replace as they went bad, me and another guy were designing a solar/electric boat, and approached nissan for the batteries, they said 2012 would be avail...well seen how they are being generous with the batteries.

Some awesome inputs drivers, I agree with all of youz-guyz,
I own an 87 jeep, that I rebuilt from the ground up, and put a new dash in,,,,tired of vehicle maint. just not into oil changes, trans. fluid!

I love the instant take off, the park and charge, and pissing off terrorists cause not buying their oil and funding their craziness.

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I have an 87 Jeep Cherokee myself and use it for towing my boat, travel trailer, construction equipment, etc. It has about 370,000 miles on it. I just cracked open the tranny and put in all new shift solenoids. It sits as much as possible. I try to use the Leaf in most cases.

We love our two Leafs but the lack of battery durability in AZ may force us to go with a different manufacturer. We do NOT want to go back to gas or even a Hybrid. We have several gas cars to repair and sell off. I have a 94 metro and an 87 944 Porsche that I own and wanted to convert over to electric using donor leafs, but active cooling is a must here so I would have to design cooling or pick a different manufacturer.

In a year, my car will need it's 3rd new battery (this time on my dime). And 2 years from now my Lady's car will need it's 3rd battery (also my dime). The cost of those battery packs, the length of the warranties, will greatly determine the monthly costs. I believe we will do what it takes to stay ALL electric one way or another... but gas prices have nothing to do with it now.

Yep, I love EVs but the Leaf, not so much... My experience with the Lizard has not changed that opinion...

Evoforce said:

We love our two Leafs but the lack of battery durability in AZ may force us to go with a different manufacturer.

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