subject: Nissan Leaf Ready To Hit The Road [print this page] Ready to go green? The all new Nissan Leaf will be available in select cities in December 2010. Advocates of environmentally friendly products have been talking about other choices for powering cars for years. Is it finally time?
There are a lot of reasons to go electric. Imagine never having to pull into the gas station again. Most electric and hybrid cars, including the new Chevy Volt, are able to use gasoline when the electric power is depleted. The Leaf doesn't. This car runs on electricity only. You?ll never go to the gas station. You could be blissfully unaware of the current sky high gas prices. This carries a risk, though, and it?s one of the main reasons that electric cars haven?t taken off before now. When the battery runs out of juice, you can?t switch over to gas. In the past, limited range has kept electric cars from being practical. The Nissan Leaf has a range of about 100 miles before needing to be recharged. That's more than enough for most drivers. The vast majority of drivers travel far less than 100 miles in a day. Most Leaf owners can drive as much as they need to during the day, and then plug it in overnight at home. So now you?re paying for electricity instead of gas, right? How cost effective is that? Charging the Leaf would cost about $2.80 at average electricity rates. Yep ? that's less expensive than the price of one gallon of gas.
Nissan's Leaf is emissions free. That?s music to the ears of anyone who believes it?s unreasonable to poison the air we breathe to the point where we need a smog alert system. When the air is unhealthy to breathe, the Air Quality Management District issues a smog alert, advising people not to exercise outdoors. Soccer practices, picnics and recesses are cancelled and people are forced indoors. All because we're addicted to gasoline. What if driving your car didn't pollute the air at all? Imagine now that zero emissions cars are the norm and gasoline is only something from the history books.
Purchase price has been a major obstacle for electric cars. Research and development makes new technology expensive. Nissan is offering the Leaf for around $35K in the United States. There is some speculation that Nissan is willing to lose money at the beginning in order to establish itself as the major player in the electric car market. The price of the Leaf is higher in Japan. Car buyers can claim a $7,500 tax credit, bringing the effective price down to $27,500. While not the cheapest car on the market, this brings the price in line with Honda?s CR-V and Toyota?s Prius. Leaf owners will need to install a home charging station, which will cost about $2,200, but they?re eligible for a tax credit for 50% of that cost.
The other challenge comes in on long drives. If you were driving from one state to another, you would need to charge your battery along the way. The Leaf's navigation system can show you the locations of charging stations on your route. A quick charge station can charge the Leaf?s battery will charge up to 80% in about half an hour. That's sufficient to make long trips practical. The car could be fully charged and ready to go by the time you finish a meal. If there are enough electric cars on the road it would be wise for restaurants and hotels to install quick charge stations.
Most drivers should find this electric car practical in spite of the few remaining challenges.
