When I read stuff like this it makes me wonder if the author is deliberately trying to create worry. You can make a lot of predictions of depreciation but saying anything near 100% depreciation over 5 years sounds so outlandish that it makes the whole article sound suspect.
I figure the federal tax credits, zero sales tax and free EV project charger help reduce some of the financial risk. Add in also the $2Kish I'm saving a year on fuel and I think you can make a good argument for the purchase of the Leaf being one of the best investment in an automobile I've ever made and that's not including the value of how it's lifting my spirits about the prospects of the future of the planet
I did worry about this at first, wondering what would happen when a battery came out with a better capacity, back when I was fixated on battery capacity. Now that I've been doing 80-90% of my driving over the last 4,000 miles with the Leaf and not even coming close to running out of juice for in city driving, other than poor planning, I realize that maybe capacity really isn't such a defining characteristic. I could do with quite a bit less so the prospects of degradation don't worry me much, assuming it's not catastrophic, which is what the warranty would be for. And once the charging network is in place, I would be able to get a car with less capacity and be fine. Actually, I think once people get through the transition of range anxiety, there will be a decent market for EV's that have a smaller range than the Leaf. Surely the car will depreciate, but I suspect it's going to be coveted and quite valuable for some time to come, I'm quite optimistic that I will be able to sell it when I want to and eventually those tax breaks are going to run out, probably boosting the resale value of the first generations. More than likely though, what will happen next for me is not selling the leaf for a car with a bigger battery but instead selling my ICE for a long distance EV, say with a 300 mile pack, at some point down the road. The only thing the Leaf doesn't do for me now, is go the occasional 500-600 miles in a day.
I'd say don't get discouraged by the nay sayers, people love to speculate and be harsh about something so new.
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