Prejudice and Range: A Michiganders dilema

[lukati]

Part of the fun of owning a leaf must be testing out all these scenarios and exploring the character of the car in different situations. Something that normal people would consider to be a hassle I consider an exploration. I'm envious of you all.

I think you have the right attitude to be an early adopter. As many posters have pointed out, your commute is a piece of cake on most days of the year and easily doable on almost all other days. My Leaf is my only car and I have a similar commute in a similar climate. So feasibility is not really in doubt. Plus you have an other car to drive longer distances and cover the days with freak snow storms and locust invasions . And according to Edmunds "True Cost To Own" calculator, the Leaf is the cheapest new car over $20,000.

[kubel]

Unless I missed something, I don't think you mentioned why do you want a LEAF? If it's for environmental reasons, have you considered a Prius, which is only slightly dirtier well-to-wheel than the LEAF and appears to be more practical for you.

I'm a unique breed, so answering that question is very difficult. It's not for environmental reasons, I can tell you that.

I'm a geek. That's my job, it's what I get paid to be. So naturally, I'm attracted to the technology of electric drive. It's a gizmo. It's unique. It's new. It's exciting. If I can afford it, I love playing with technology. If I can actually come up with reasons to justify my purchase, it's even better.

There are also political reasons. In the past 5 years, I went from being a warmongering neoconservative to a peace loving libertarian- a drastic change in my life that has in fact altered my appetite for oil. Part of my concern is recognizing that electric drive has the potential to free many Americans from their moral responsibility of not just financing undesirable characters in the middle east (tyrants and terrorists), but also creating demand for foreign interventionism, and thus blowback such as events like 9/11.

But being a libertarian, I'm also big on self sufficiency and independence. Electricity is a lot more plentiful in this nation than gas is. So in my view, relying on something that we have to ship over from half way across the world (or relying on something whose prices and availability are decided by people half way across the world who happen to not like is) is a lot less desirable than relying on something that is generated from stuff that we have a lot of here at home. But at the same time, I recognize that there really is no realistic replacement for hydrocarbons in our economy.

Then there are economic reasons, which are admittedly the most difficult to accept since batteries are so freakin' expensive. But the fact is this car does pay off in the long run assuming these high gas prices don't go away compared to cars similarly equipped.

So, those are my reasons. I'm probably missing a few. But in short, pure electric drive is much more interesting and appealing to me, if not practical for my commute.

Summary: To me, the LEAF is cool. The Prius most certainly is not.

[SanDust]

Well if those are you reasons and you're OK with the range limitation and some of the performance issues (torque falls off considerably after 35-40 MPH) you'll definitely be happy with the car. My only concern is that unlike some others here I don't think your commute will necessarily be a piece of cake during the winter. But if you have another car or can plug in at work you should be fine.

[kubel]

Just an update: I went ahead and reserved a leaf and called to get a waiver. I'm holding out on getting a demo leaf for a few days so I can test real world range performance with my commute. Depending how well that goes, my next hurdle is convincing management to at least let me trickle charge. My manager seemed supportive but ultimately upper management has to give the ok. But if everything works out, I'll RAQ and proceed with the order process. I'm hopeful that it will all work out. Things have been falling into place for the past few months that almost look like its devine intervention telling me to get this car. XD

[EdmondLeaf]

I am doing 55+ miles for last 3 mo without problems and charging to 80%. Will be great if you will get demo for "real world" test.

[DaveinOlyWA]

you dont need charging at work but would be nice to pave the way for the next person who does.

[kubel]

I just talked to our CIO today. He seemed open to the idea of letting me plug in, but we have no outdoor plugs on our building, and they have to figure out where exactly would be the best place to install a plug or charging station. The parking lot (that we share with the rest of the industrial complex) has several 120V and 220V free-standing outlets in various locations (I've never seen them used) but they are owned and paid for by Dean Foods next door.

Everything is still preliminary, but I think management sees a green PR and HR opportunity here for a company that has plans for rapid growth this year. The only green push that our company made since I've been with them was to go paperless. I think HR would love to release a newsletter bragging about how green they are with 'paperless document imaging, and now, a state of the art EV charging station to encourage and assist employees to go green in their commute'.

But I think I could really seal the deal if I could show off a demo LEAF to senior management in the parking lot.

[SanDust]

Just be careful in counting on charging at work. In a few cases the answer was "yes" and then after other employees complained the answer turned to "no". Additionally just because you have an outdoor plug doesn't mean it will support the EVSE. (Another reason to use the demo!).

[kubel]

I got approved to plug in to 120V!

It's a step forward.

[TonyWilliams]

I got approved to plug in to 120V!

It's a step forward.

Awesome. Now, start making your backup plans in case this deal falls through, or is broken, etc.