The Decision to Go Electric

In September of 2013, I decided to lease a Nissan Leaf, and use it to commute around the Detroit area.

Most of the future posts here will focus on living in southeast Michigan with an electric car. Although it has been on sale since 2011, the Leaf still remains a relatively unknown car to the general public, especially in this area of the country. Its main competitor in terms of plug-in vehicles is the Chevrolet Volt, and in Detroit the Volt sells quite well, and certainly much better than the Leaf. Others (Green Car Reports, Motor Trend, and many more) have done a good in-depth analysis of the plug-in options available to consumers, and it would be silly to rehash all of it.

The Volt is a range-extended vehicle, which essentially means that you can go about 30-40 miles on battery power alone, before it starts using gasoline to go quite a bit further, about the same distance as a regular gas-powered car.

The Leaf, on the other hand, operates solely on battery power. There is no gas tank, and no safety net, so to speak. You can expect a range of about 75 miles, possibly 100, on a "normal" day. Obviously there is no such thing as a normal day in Detroit, as this winter has taught me on a daily basis.

Why the Leaf, then? 

• My commute appears to fit the Leaf's estimated range.
• Never stop for gas again.
• No real maintenance.
• The Leaf has 5 seats, with a rear bench. The Volt has only 4 seats.
• The Leaf has much more usable cargo space than the Volt. 
• The Leaf was much less expensive for me than the Volt.

 Why not a regular non-electric car? 

• The Leaf should be less expensive to drive than a similar car.
• I could afford an electric car, and it seemed like the thing to do at the time.
• We already have a regular car.

Note, I didn't say it's more environmentally responsible than driving a conventional vehicle, nor did I say it's cooler than driving a conventional car. Some time in the future, expect a post about the hypothetical environmental impact of driving a Nissan Leaf.