Is Nissan’s Leaf Too Sexy for Your Pocketbook?

I’ve had the honor of driving the Nissan Leaf and can attest to the fact that this is a great car! It’s quiet as a mouse, very quick and nimble and can run on 100% renewable electricity made from sunlight or wind power.

I haven’t driven a Ford Focus, but I like the looks of the car. Ford will be making an EV version for sale next year. I’ve been promised a test drive in the next few weeks and expect it will rival the Leaf and GM’s Volt in performance.

I have to question the premise of the question we’re being asked. Would we buy an EV and do we think it would be worth it? If someone is only looking at the cost of the vehicles, maybe the gas car is a bit cheaper. But, that would mean the person making that calculation doesn’t value clean air at all. That person also would not care one whit that the purchase of foreign oil accounts for close to 50% of our foreign debt. Nor would that person place any value on the fact that we are fighting a war over oil, and that if we maintain our singular addiction to oil as the energy source for our auto fleet, we’ll very likely be fighting a much bigger war with China over that resource as the world’s oil fields dry up.

These issues are extremely important to progressives everywhere. You should reframe the question to ask how much people value a clean environment, a strong economy and our national security. Then ask how much more would they be willing to pay for a car that enhanced all three of those things.

I can guarantee you that plug-in cars are going to sell as fast as the car makers can build them. The feeling one gets driving a car that runs on sunlight is beyond words. I’ve been doing exactly that for almost 8 years now, and every single person I’ve explained this to is anxiously awaiting their opportunity to get one of their own.

@Paul – the idea of driving an EV charged on sunshine is enticing and I can’t help but ask … How large is the solar collector on your home? How long does it take to charge your EV? How many miles can you drive?

I’ve been pricing out solar electric systems for my place and even with the substantial government incentives here in NJ, I can’t seem to make a dent in my electric bill, much less afford the system. I’d install a wind turbine or two, but there’s not enough steady wind.

Our best bang for the solar power buck here seems to be solar hot water, as supplemental heating in the winter. (We use heating oil, unfortunately.)

Thanks, JStack! It would have to charge off peak … the commuter car would be away from home all day. Our electric bills are over $250 for most months of the year (if I recall correctly). The solar cells are still way too expensive, even when heavily subsidized. I’m about to start in on a biodiesel project … that one I can afford.

Paul – I’m always turning off lights here, to no avail. Blame it on two teenagers and phantom power drains!

How many individual panels are there in your system? I just used 1BOG’s Solar Estimate tool to find that it would take a whopping 70 panels to wipe out my crazy expensive NJ electric bill.

Gross Cost: $73500.00
- Tax Credit: -$22050.00
- First-Year SREC Payments: -$11293.13
Net Cost: $40156.87

That would be a dandy investment if I had the spare $40K … and wasn’t facing college tuition bills for the kids.

The payback over time is quite remarkable.

Are there financial institutions that help average cash-strapped folks make this happen?

@Victoria – Indeed! I’d love to have a Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Ford Focus EV, Fiat 500 EV, or Chevy Volt in the garage, but would NEVER want to fuel it with coal. Your upcoming webisode sounds like a good one. Many thanks for the link.