I’ll keep this short. Yes, the Nissan Leaf has a high MSRP – over $35k. But demand is way down due to the drop in gas prices. Nissan is advertising the SV (lower end model) for a lease of $249/month + tax for 24 months, 12k miles/year, $2k down. Turns out a lot of dealers will sell them for a lot less.
I sent out emails to the internet departments of all Nissan dealers within 100 miles on Wednesday morning asking for their best bids. By 4 pm we were driving off with an SL model (higher end) and a lease of $194/month (including tax) for 24 months, 15k miles/year, $2k down. 3 other dealers bid very close to that.
If you’ve been thinking electric car now is a great time. Electric cars are a fledging industry that is critical to helping combat global warming. We LOVE the Leaf – and from what I can tell almost every other Leaf driver does too.
If anyone here is interested I’ll post details of all the features Nissan has that make using an electric car easier – and details of how to install your own home charging station (you can charge with a 110 volt outlet, but a 240V charger is much faster).
The only reason I didn’t get a Leaf the last time a bought a car last year that work round trip is over 50 miles and I didn’t want to have range anxiety every time I drove.
I’m sure by next time I’m ready the range will be a little longer and I’ll be able to get one.
The last time we went to the local shopping mecca that they had charging stations in the parking lot now, and there was even a car parked in one and charging.
I think the Leaf is a cute car – glad you got such a great deal on one.
I have a friend who has a Volt, and he can set it to charge overnight (at off-peak times) to save a little on the electric bill. Meaning, he can plug it in when he gets home, but it won’t actually start charging until whatever time he has set. Is that also a feature on the Leaf?
Congrats on the new car, always exciting š
Yes, the Leaf has a charging timer – I have to have our local electric company install a smart meter so that I can get the lower-rates-during-off-hours, which I plan to do after I install the home charging station this weekend.
In response to someone’s question I calculated that at standard electric rates the Leaf costs me less than 3 cents per mile in fuel. At off-hour electric rates it will be less than half that. Most people pay over 10 cents per mile for gasoline or diesel engines – many pay a lot more.
I’ve been reading that although the Volt goes only about 40 miles or so before the gas-powered electricity generator kicks in most Volt owners use very little gasoline, often logging normal driving miles but refilling the fuel tank as little as only one or two times per year. My concern with the Volt had little to do with the design and more just a general distrust of GM based on my ownership experiences over the years.
The charging timer, by the way, is part of an interesting set of features that I suspect the Volt has as well. Another feature is a climate control timer – you can set the Leaf to start heating or A/C at a certain time while charging – the idea is that in hot or cold conditions you can use the charging connection to get the Leaf’s internal temperature moderate just before you drive it, thus using less battery power.
And the OTHER feature is that you can adjust the charging and climate control timers via a smartphone app since the Leaf has a built-in satellite connection using Nissan’s Carwings (Volt, I presume, does the same using GM’s On Star system).
1.5 – 3 cents per mile is fantastic. I’ve tracked mileage in my car (a VW Jetta with a 6 cylinder engine) for the last several years, and have averaged 15 cents per mile over that time. I also have a motorcycle, and that weighs in at 7 cents / mile.
My friend with the Volt is very proud of how infrequently he has to use the gasoline engine. It’s changed his driving habits completely (to my great entertainment) because his commute is about 20 miles each way and if he drives like the madman he used to, he’ll have to use gas.
I’ll have to ask him about the smart phone app – that sounds pretty nifty.