Guy Hall, a SARTA member, bought an all-electric Leaf a few months back. It looks cool. It advertises a 130 mile range, but several have said it is more like 60 miles if you use it on a freeway. So today I asked Guy’s son Thomas how the Leaf was doing. He said the range is better than 60 but probably not as much as 130. What his Dad has done is carefully plot out where the charging stations in the surrounding area are to be sure he can get at least a partial recharge before going back home. They took a trip from Roseville to Chico which was over 70 miles and made it fine. Guy has found sites where even private individuals will let you get a quick “drink.” What has been more often the case is that Guy finds a restaurant or a store near his destination where he can get a recharge. Great marketing tool for now…a restaurant offering free charging to bring in the business from the electric car drivers. He says they have saved about $1000 in gasoline in the last five months. Guy says he has a lot of other stories about driving the Leaf. Maybe we can coax him into offering a few here. C’mon Guy, tell us more! Dan Koellen, SARTA Board member, has had his Tesla for two years. We need stories from him as well. C’mon Dan, what are your stories?
You can see Guy’s Leaf at the Sacramento Clean Tech Showcase, Monday, October 24 at Sacramento State. Register now to get an early bird discount at www.cleantechshowcase.org . Forty excellent speakers and some special events. A hundred exhibitors. Plan to make a day of it. It’s worth it.
Nob Kanner
Came across this site and see comments are a bit out of date. I live in Maryland suburbs of DC and have owned my LEAF since 12/2011. It is now June 2012. I drive it into Georgetown–80% freeway driving–a 60 mile round trip–I use the climate control systems, XM radio and even do a side trip or 2. My range is about 80 miles or more. I Love this car–have saved a tremendous amount of money–even with the offset of the lease price per month ($350) compared to a similar sized ICE car ($250 or so)-don’t pollute directly-no oil on street to wash into waterways–no petroleum fluids except a little glycol and brake fluid. I have learned to drive a few miles over the speed limit to increase my range, and yet see people just burning thru gasoline passing me left and right. When will this nation learn? Since 1973 we have been in an oil consuming crisis–doesn’t anyone care about the future of our children..this car and other EV’s should be embraced and seriously promoted by the companies that make them and the federal government. Thanks for having a forum about alternative transportation..
bk
Guy Travis Hall
Gary,
I checked the list of electric cars that will be at the Clean Tech Showcase, and wow. There’s wide variety of models, styles and price ranges. I plan on talking to some long time EV driver and signing up for some test drives. At some point here we need to replace our second car…
Guy
Guy Travis Hall
Gary,
After some 6600 miles on my LEAF, I called up the Nissan dealer for the first check up. They said “Great, we’ll set up an oil change, fluid checks, …” I stopped him with “Hold it, I’ve got a LEAF”. “Ah, then we don’t bother with an appointment, just stop by any time, we’ll take a quick look and then you’ll be on your way.” Cool… Then Eric dropped by with “Bummer, I had to beg a ride into the office today because my starter went out.” I looked at him blankly and asked “What’s this thing you call a starter?” Nice to have 95% fewer moving parts.
cooldog
and the cost of new batteries in a few years is……..
Guy Travis Hall
Cooldog,
Perhaps giving a hint at EV battery life in general there are currently 750 Toyota RAV4 EVs still on the road after 15 years, which are still going strong in California, using the original batteries. (though these are an older battery technology, so we’re limited in extrapolating this.)
Guy
Colorado Leaf
I’ve got over 5000 miles on my leaf so far. I commute on a freeway where you often find yourself at 85 mph just holding your place in traffic. That pace burns electrons and the leaf will not disappoint unless you just need a couple more mph at 95…. I charge at work so I’m always ready for a side trip if I need one. The car is so smooth and quite (even more dramatic at 90) that getting back into a gas powered car seems so…. dare I say… retro? They are loud, jerky, slow off the line and have you been to a gas station lately? It costs me about 2 cents (not quite, but close) for one miles worth of electricity. Do the math. The Leaf rocks…
cooldog
and the cost of a new set of batteries is…………………..
Guy Travis Hall
Cooldog,
First of all, the cars are typically warrenteed to 10 years/80,000 miles.
Second, there’s this missunderstanding that you have to replace this entire battery pack. Not true, you ID and replace the weaker individual batteries, likely a small fraction of total pack.
Third, the batteries being replaced still have significant value as they hold a 50% to 90% charge. These still work fine and can be resold to EV’s owners satisfied with a shorter range, utility companies that are looking for stationary energy storage, or 3rd world for local power storage. Markets will be forming over the next few years.
Check http://www.cars21.com/content/articles/51120110221.php for more info.