An ICE based car as a second car...

Jagular said:

Style. I hate the look of the front plate on cars.
"I'm pulling you over because you don't have a front license plate."
"I do have a front license plate."
Officer walks to the front of the car. Sees the plate. Returns my license and registration.
"Sorry, my mistake. Have a nice day."

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I like the hidden plates a lot - it would be fun on my Z4. Incidentally, the 645Ci looks like fun - is yours a convertible?

Like most posters on this thread I've found the Leaf has become our default choice. I didn't expect my wife to like it as much as she does. I think she mainly likes minimizing her trips to the gas station, not because of the cost or even environmental concerns, but just because it is something of a pain and she doesn't like the smell or having to get dirty cleaning the windshield of her Acura. She also likes the nice big cargo area with easy access for grocery shopping, especially at Costco. She mostly knows my schedule and won't take it if she knows I'm likely to go out with it, but may ask if it's OK. Another consideration is the audio. I don't like having to switch to her car because I am usually in the middle of a CD book and it's a pain to swap CDs and find the right place twice, or, alternatively, she sometimes lets the CD play a minute or so before she switches to her radio station, so when I get back in I've missed a bit of the story and have to go back.

But I have no compunction taking the ICE when necessary. Friday we drove to the North Bay (65 mi. each way with no place to charge) in the Acura to promote my novel and figured I probably used up a month's worth of royalties just in gas!

I have a long trip tomorrow to Lakeland and back on Tuesday (244 miles each way), so I am taking the Civic Hybrid (which has 114,000 miles on it but still tops 50 mpg if I stay below 65 mph).

Today I put gas in a car for the first time in 3 months (okay, I put 4 gals in my Harley a couple of times since then), and I almost forgot how to open the cas cap cover. :?: $38 for gas :!: !!!

We had a Prius and RAV4-EV, I thought I was going to replace the Prius w/ a Volt until I learned more about the LEAF. The big idea was realizing that we could keep the Prius and add the LEAF (and that was cheaper than the Volt). For everyday use the the two EVs would meet our needs and we Prius for long hauls.

The Prius is the "extra" car. It gets driven so little that I have to keep it plugged in. That is I have to keep a 12V battery maintainer on it. My insurance policy on it is based on miles driven so that is pretty minimal.

arnold

we are like many here with Leaf/Prius. the Prius has the longer commute about 64 miles RT but ALL the driving in town is with the Leaf when possible. Now, she went to a 4 -10 hour shift for last 2 months of 2011 so mileage should go down

but was almost an even split 12,800/14,200 remembering the Prius was around 17 more days last year than the Leaf.

with the 4 day work week on the Prius and a pending change in my commute, the Leaf should overcome the Prius this year despite getting an early jump due to half dozen trips to Salem OR and Back

We are pretty much the same as all the rest on this thread- the Leaf is our number one car and our ICE wagon does long trips or trips when the Leaf is in use. Interestingly, in one of the Leaf or SDGE surveys, for one question, they only gave choices for using the Leaf as much or less than the car it replaces. Obviously the survey wasn't written by some who uses a Leaf. We put about 1000 miles a month on the car, which is probably at least 20% more than the distances we were driving on the car it replaced.

Based on our limited usage of a gas car, I'd say that for most people they should make a fine second vehicle. There are lots of things to worry about - rising gasoline and maintenance prices, the constant shaking and smell, touching the icky gas pump handle, having to check the oil level, etc. But with time, you get used to a lot of that. It's not so bad owning one if you need to.

Our 2nd car is currently a Prius, but if I had a chance to start from scratch, I think the Prius V seems like a great 2nd ICE car for long trips. Toyota will seal the deal for me if they offer the non-US version (Japan and Europe) with the 3rd row.

yoyofella said:

Our 2nd car is currently a Prius, but if I had a chance to start from scratch, I think the Prius V seems like a great 2nd ICE car for long trips. Toyota will seal the deal for me if they offer the non-US version (Japan and Europe) with the 3rd row.

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I only have a one car right now (my 06 Prius), but to me a Gen 3 Prius or '12 Camry Hybrid would be a good choice. '12 HyCam has amazing FE for a 200 hp midsized car and I'd think should have a smoother ride and be quieter than the Prius v wagon.

'12 HyCam did pretty well at http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/most-fuel-efficient-cars.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/02/fuel-economy-vs-performance/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

If one wants to be green from a GHG and harmful pollutants POV, best to look for vehicles that do well at http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/Index.do" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (check both checkboxes on the right and select CA or your state).

We kept our old 2005 VW Touran 2.0TDI DSG as a second car. It is a great complement to the Leaf as it can tow a heavy trailer (up to 3100lbs) and have lots of room inside to carry big things (back seats are removable). It also gets rather good mileage when driven carefully, I just drove 475 miles averaging a bit over 52 mpg (US mpg, not imp.).

TRONZ said:

I agree that once you have peace of mind securing an EV, you pretty much have freedom to pick whatever car you want for occasional use. Freedom is good!

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DeaneG said:

Based on our limited usage of a gas car, I'd say that for most people they should make a fine second vehicle.

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Good points Tronz and Deane! and the second car can be a true gas guzzler or a small roadster, depending on needs and tastes.

Tip: purchase a 12V battery maintainer and air compressor if you don't have one already. I use my ICE backup so infrequently that the last time I went to use it the battery was dead and one tire flat!

My old gas car sees the battery charger and tire inflator much more than it sees me! Haven't driven it in months. Don't forget to put in fuel stabilizer additive while the gas is still fresh. You can buy it in Home Depot in the chainsaw section, right where it belongs.

TickTock said:

Tip: purchase a 12V battery maintainer and air compressor if you don't have one already. I use my ICE backup so infrequently that the last time I went to use it the battery was dead and one tire flat!

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I log my ICE car use on a calendar and try to drive it every two to three weeks if it hasn't been otherwise needed.

My second car is a 1996 Jeep Cherokee (with manual transmission) that gets 23 mpg most of the time, ~20 mpg with some 4WD use, and 25-28 mpg on long trips over the mountains. Its function is to get me up my driveway in winter when I haven't had time to shovel all of it, to handle difficult driving conditions, to tackle the abundance of "Jeep roads" around here (such as Imogene Pass, 13,000 feet: requires low range second gear), and to handle long trips.

Yes, it's a big step down from driving the LEAF.

waaay back when i first got my Leaf; i had fully intended to keep both Priuses. after all, both cars were paid for so minimal financial risk to keeping both and less than 2 cars is not an option for us. but after 3 months of going out to start up the 2006 to let it idle 10 minutes and shut if off once a week (we were doing it once every two weeks but came out one day and the battery was almost dead) we realized that the Leaf was more than enough to cover our needs.

I took the weekend roadster out on a weekday, driving with the top down on one of San Diego's winding mountain roads ; it was tons of fun! I stopped at the Ramona Library and saw a LEAF parked in one of 2 spots designated for low emissions vehicles but no EVSE. Once the supposed DC charger comes online in Santa Ysabel, it'd be fun to make the same trip with the LEAF and compare the driving experience.

Primary car = '12 Leaf
Secondary car = '04 Prius

No one came upon the perfect solution to the "audio problem"?

I just switch on my wife's station before I get out, no missed sentences for me...
The worst that could happen is that you have to switch it back if she doesn't take the car before you do.

Primary car will be the LEAF.
Secondary car will be a 2006 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor.

I'm not sure what benefit the LEAF would be as a secondary car. I always thought it was practical at everyday stuff (driving to work, to the store, to the bank, etc...). Using the LEAF just on the weekends seems exactly the opposite of what I would do.

"eHelmholtz"...the second car can be a true gas guzzler or a small roadster, depending on needs and tastes.

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I have a 96 Cherokee (16 mpg average) and a 82 Fiat Spider (25 mpg average), registered and insured (about $500 for the last year, between the two of them).

I only have put about 100 miles on the Fiat, and 50 miles on the Jeep, since I got my LEAF, 10 months and 7,300 BEV miles ago.

I am quite sure I will put some miles on both ICEVs very soon, though.

Both are Due for Their biannual smog inspections, within a month.

$100, for gas for the trip and inspection fees, and two hours of waiting, between them.

In my recent experience, ICEVs, are quite expensive to operate, in terms of cost per mile...