I Just Updated my LEAF Website - Let me know what you think!

[UBUYGAS]

Hello All,

Have had this site up for almost 2 years, I get around 10 hits a day to it and this morning I just updated some info, I added a couple more Videos and changed a couple of pictures.

http://www.UBUYGAS.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What do you think about the Data I provide?

Do I need to add anything or edit anything?

Thanks for your input,

Sal Cameli
"Lasareath"
#UBUYGAS

 

[abasile]

It is great to see your efforts to educate the driving public. Perhaps it might be worth showing, along with your current mileage, your remaining battery capacity as a percentage of the original capacity. Having to replace the battery at great expense is probably one of the biggest fears of would-be electric motorists, but I expect that longevity should not be too bad in New Jersey's climate.

More importantly, the IRS will not give you the full $7500 tax credit unless you actually owed at least that much for the year. Yes, they will send you a tax refund if you are owed one, but you will not get back money that you never paid in the first place.

 

[UBUYGAS]

My Battery capacity is 12 bars out of 12 bars. No loss to show yet.

Your second paragraph makes no sense. I don't understand what you are trying to convey.

Please explain it more clearly.

It is great to see your efforts to educate the driving public. Perhaps it might be worth showing, along with your current mileage, your remaining battery capacity as a percentage of the original capacity. Having to replace the battery at great expense is probably one of the biggest fears of would-be electric motorists, but I expect that longevity should not be too bad in New Jersey's climate.

More importantly, the IRS will not give you the full $7500 tax credit unless you actually owed at least that much for the year. Yes, they will send you a tax refund if you are owed one, but you will not get back money that you never paid in the first place.

 

[TomT]

Oh, I suspect that you do, in fact, have some loss but relying on just the capacity bars, where the first bar is 15%, effectively masks it...

My Battery capacity is 12 bars out of 12 bars. No loss to show yet.

 

[dhanson865]

My Battery capacity is 12 bars out of 12 bars. No loss to show yet.

Your second paragraph makes no sense. I don't understand what you are trying to convey.

Please explain it more clearly.

It is great to see your efforts to educate the driving public. Perhaps it might be worth showing, along with your current mileage, your remaining battery capacity as a percentage of the original capacity. Having to replace the battery at great expense is probably one of the biggest fears of would-be electric motorists, but I expect that longevity should not be too bad in New Jersey's climate.

More importantly, the IRS will not give you the full $7500 tax credit unless you actually owed at least that much for the year. Yes, they will send you a tax refund if you are owed one, but you will not get back money that you never paid in the first place.

Someone that makes $50,000 a year and has a tax liability of $5,000 will get only that much back. They won't get $7,500 because they didn't have that much in tax liability in the first place.

Someone else that makes $30,000 a year and has a tax liability of $1,500 will get only that much back. They won't get $7,500 because they didn't have that much in tax liability in the first place.

 

[smkettner]

Yes I think the tax advice is a bit oversimplified.

 

[mbender]

Someone that makes $50,000 a year and has a tax liability of $5,000 will get only that much back. They won't get $7,500 because they didn't have that much in tax liability in the first place.

Someone else that makes $30,000 a year and has a tax liability of $1,500 will get only that much back. They won't get $7,500 because they didn't have that much in tax liability in the first place.

Yes. This is the sentence (on this site, not the original post above) that needs to be removed or amended:

If you don't owe any taxes you will receive a check for $7500.

However, I believe they are hoping to change that it, and up it to $10,000, in the coming years, so keep some version of it around ;-). OTOH, I think it's in Obama's budget proposal, so I'd be amazed if it makes it through unscathed. (Or has that already happened? I lose track...)

 

[dgpcolorado]

...However, I believe they are hoping to change that it, and up it to $10,000, in the coming years, so keep some version of it around ;-). OTOH, I think it's in Obama's budget proposal, so I'd be amazed if it makes it through unscathed. (Or has that already happened? I lose track...)

The chance of that proposal making it through Congress is slim to none.

 

[dhanson865]

...However, I believe they are hoping to change that it, and up it to $10,000, in the coming years, so keep some version of it around ;-). OTOH, I think it's in Obama's budget proposal, so I'd be amazed if it makes it through unscathed. (Or has that already happened? I lose track...)

The chance of that proposal making it through Congress is slim to none.

Well, I'll either have to improve my Gross income or congress will have to increase my tax liability (hopefully more of the former than the latter)

I say this after looking at my tax forms for the last few years. All of them were below $7500 in terms of tax liability.

 

[mbender]

...However, I believe they are hoping to change that it, and up it to $10,000, in the coming years, so keep some version of it around ;-). OTOH, I think it's in Obama's budget proposal, so I'd be amazed if it makes it through unscathed. (Or has that already happened? I lose track...)

The chance of that proposal making it through Congress is slim to none.

If any republicans vote against the increase, it should be considered a violation of the Norquist Pledge and they should be thrown/voted out of office by irate Tea Partiers. (half :lol:, half serious)

 

[UBUYGAS]

Thanks All about that Tax stipulation. I did not know about that rule.

I will update my statement on the site.

So if someone pays exactly $7500 they will get all of it back? Or do they need to pay in $10000 ?

It would seem to me that somebody at the IRS would be "Hey, he's getting a free ride, we need a minimum of X and then he can get the Tax incentive"

TIA,

Sal

 

[dhanson865]

Thanks All about that Tax stipulation. I did not know about that rule.

I will update my statement on the site.

So if someone pays exactly $7500 they will get all of it back? Or do they need to pay in $10000 ?

It would seem to me that somebody at the IRS would be "Hey, he's getting a free ride, we need a minimum of X and then he can get the Tax incentive"

TIA,

Sal

It's all about the "taxes owed" line on your 1040, 1040c, 1040ez. So long as your taxes owed is =7500 or more you get 7500 off your taxes owed.

The refund amount remains Taxes Withheld - Taxes Owed = Refund

note that the Refund amount in the form of a check or direct deposit won't always equal the amount you saved due to the EV credit.

so if you have 7500 withheld and owed 7500 before the EV credit you get a refund of $7500

if you have 5000 withheld and owed 7500 before the EV credit you get a refund of $5000 (you got $7500 savings from the EV but didn't have enough withheld to see it on the refund check, without the EV you would have had to pay an extra 2500 at tax time)

if you have 5000 withheld and owed 5000 before the EV credit you get a refund of $5000

if you have 7500 withheld and owed 5000 before the EV credit you get a refund of $7500 (but only $5000 was because of the EV, you should have changed your withholding earlier in the year to avoid this or at least reduce it)

Notice how the math hides or exaggerates the EV credit if you have an imbalance between tax withheld and tax owed.

They don't care if you get it exactly on the line, you don't have to owe more than $7500 to get the full amount. But you do have to pay attention to how much withholding you have vs tax owed to have an idea what your true math is.

disclaimer: I'm not a tax professional. This is not intended nor should it be used as a substitute for tax, audit, accounting, investment, consulting or other professional advice.

 

[dgpcolorado]

Well, I'll either have to improve my Gross income or congress will have to increase my tax liability (hopefully more of the former than the latter)

I say this after looking at my tax forms for the last few years. All of them were below $7500 in terms of tax liability.

For those who don't live in my state the answer is simple: Lease the car. Then NMAC, the leasing agent, uses the $7500 tax credit as part of the down payment for the car, reducing the lease payments commensurately. If you want to buy the car just buy out the lease.

[The complicating factor in Colorado is that leasing greatly reduces the amount of the generous state tax credit.]

 

[dhanson865]

Well, I'll either have to improve my Gross income or congress will have to increase my tax liability (hopefully more of the former than the latter)

I say this after looking at my tax forms for the last few years. All of them were below $7500 in terms of tax liability.

For those who don't live in my state the answer is simple: Lease the car. Then NMAC, the leasing agent, uses the $7500 tax credit as part of the down payment for the car, reducing the lease payments commensurately. If you want to buy the car just buy out the lease.

[The complicating factor in Colorado is that leasing greatly reduces the amount of the generous state tax credit.]

I took option C.

I waited until I could buy one used for $8995 at a used car lot.

The 200 mile drive home was a bit of a test of my charging / range management skills but I didn't have to do any L1 charging on the drive home. ChaDemo was very nice in the portion of the trip that I could use them. L2 was a drag with only a 3.x KW charger. I tested the 40 mph minimum speed rule on I-40 for a while.

 

[dgpcolorado]

I took option C.

I waited until I could buy one used for $8995 at a used car lot.

The 200 mile drive home was a bit of a test of my charging / range management skills but I didn't have to do any L1 charging on the drive home. ChaDemo was very nice in the portion of the trip that I could use them. L2 was a drag with only a 3.x KW charger. I tested the 40 mph minimum speed rule on I-40 for a while.

Buying used is certainly a better deal than new, although that wasn't an option for the early adopters. And it won't be an option for the 30 kWh 2016 LEAF, or the double range Gen 2 LEAF, for some years to come.

But, yes, buying a used car is usually a more cost-effective approach than buying the same type of car new. Kudos to you for being willing to wait.

 

[UBUYGAS]

Ok Guys I have updated the site, added some more info about Driving Electric as well.

Please check it out and let me know if it is better and is there anything else I should add?

TIA,

Sal

http://www.UBUYGAS.com/

 

[abasile]

I applaud your efforts and am happy to see the improvements in the tax advice.

It seems to me that, provided the battery is in decent shape, a used LEAF truly is a steal of a deal for a commuter living in a not-too-hot area. Stating that on your website, however, could be a mixed blessing, as it also highlights the terrible depreciation that LEAFs have had thus far.

 

[UBUYGAS]

Thanks.

Yes I may need to mention that as well.

And Nissan may need to modify the price of future LEAFs sold. If a two year old 24K mile LEAF can be bought for $9,000 to $12,000 then Nissan may need to drop their prices. They may find that it's difficult to sell New LEAFs.

I applaud your efforts and am happy to see the improvements in the tax advice.

It seems to me that, provided the battery is in decent shape, a used LEAF truly is a steal of a deal for a commuter living in a not-too-hot area. Stating that on your website, however, could be a mixed blessing, as it also highlights the terrible depreciation that LEAFs have had thus far.

 

[lion]

I have a couple of comments about your numbers, as they contradicts the experience of many owners, and existing data.

We need to make sure we share realistic data, as I keep encountering LEAF owners who are so disappointed, they will not get a LEAF/EV again.

In the winter you get less range, at 32 degrees I do not notice any change in range,
at 20 degrees I notice around a 10% drop and at 4 degrees I noticed around 15% drop in range.
The LEAF Loves 85 degrees, I get the most range at 85 degrees.

You are obviously aren't using the heater, but even without the heater, your range would be noticeable less at 32F.

Ideal weather for the LEAF seems to be between 70-75F, depending on who you ask. Anything above or below will start affecting your range.

The GOM might not display a big drop, or your driving style might be different during the winter, but there's definitely a change.

Check out this chart, courtesy of Tony Williams.

More details

**Usually I get around 84 miles range per charge. One time I drove 61 miles and I still
had 50% battery left, so I should be able to get 122 miles range on one charge.

I'd really love to hear your efficiency numbers (kWh), as that sounds unusually high, especially for a 2 year old vehicle.

The other issue:

My #LEAF just turned 2 years old and I drove 26,700 miles and spent around $700 in Electricity.
Maintenance consisted of rotating the tires, Cabin Air-Filter, Wiper blades and wiper fluid,
That's it!, It's very inexpensive to maintain this car. Just recently there was a story of a Taxi
in CA that uses a Nissan Leaf and after 160,000 miles his battery is still doing very well and he's still
On the original brakes!

You forgot the $100+ brake fluid flush (2 years or 30,000 miles, whichever comes first) and the annual battery check, which is only free for the first 2 years. Granted, it's not a major expense, but it does exist.