Electric Car Within Reach Of Most Drivers

Want to help the environment? If you live in California, you?ll have a chance at the Nissan Leaf later this year. There?s been talk about reducing or eliminating our dependence on gasoline, but is the technology really there?

There are many factors making electric cars advantageous. Imagine bypassing the gas station – every time you see one. Most electric and hybrid cars, including the Volt, do use gasoline when the battery dies. The Leaf never uses gasoline. It doesn’t even have a gas tank. This car runs on electricity only. You’ll never again buy gasoline. You won’t care what the price of gas is. You won’t care any more. There is a downside, though, and historically it’s been a big enough problem to keep electric cars from becoming commonplace. When the battery runs out of juice, you can?t switch over to gas. This limits the range that electric cars can travel, which has inhibited their practicality. Nissan has solved most of the problem ? not perfectly for all situations, but certainly well enough for most consumers. The Leaf can go 100 miles on a charge. That?s more than enough for most people. Very few drivers travel more than 100 miles in a day on a regular basis. 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? Well, at average electricity rates, charging the Nissan Leaf would cost under $3. That?s right ? that’s less expensive than a gallon of gas.

The Nissan Leaf does not produce any emissions. None. That?s wonderful news to anyone who believes it?s unreasonable to poison the air we breathe to the point where we have a smog alert system. The Air Quality Management District issue smog alerts, advising the community that the air is unfit to breathe and advising them to restrict outdoor activities. 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 that zero emissions cars become the norm and gasoline powered engines go the way of the dinosaur. As an added green bonus, the Leaf will be almost fully recyclable at the end of its life, so it won?t end up in a landfill.

One major obstacle to any alternate fuel vehicles has been price. New technology is expensive. Nissan is offering the Leaf for around $35K in the United States. It’s possible than Nissan is pricing it as low as they can in order to get a foothold on the electric car market. The price of the Leaf is higher in Japan. The $7,500 tax credit brings the effective price to $27,500. This is low enough to compete with the Toyota Prius and the Honda CR-V. 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.

Price has been an impediment for many types of alternative fuel cars. Research and development makes new technology expensive. In this case, Nissan has priced the Leaf at around $35,000 in the U.S. It’s possible than Nissan is pricing it as low as they can in order to get a foothold on the electric car market. The Leaf’s price is $27,500 after a $7,500 tax credit. While not the cheapest car on the market, this brings the price in line with Honda?s CR-V and Toyota?s Prius.

In spite of the few remaining problems, I think the Nissan Leaf is practical for most drivers.

Written by Hannah Valez Nissan Riverside Nissan Dealers Orange County

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