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Having owned a Nissan LEAF for the last 2.5 years has been really great. Maintenance is almost nothing, the battery has held up fantastic and the car is a real
by ebbv 10y ago
Having owned a Nissan LEAF for the last 2.5 years has been really great. Maintenance is almost nothing, the battery has held up fantastic and the car is a real pleasure to drive. Never having to stop for gas or get oil changes sounds like not a big deal but it is really nice. Every morning the LEAF has a full charge.
I think the Bolt and other 200+ mile range vehicles that are fairly affordable will help get more people into EVs. The other thing I think we need in the US is an affordable EV crossover. There's rumors of Nissan doing an EV Rogue. If they put a 60KWh battery in it, I think it would sell like gangbusters.
Obviously the last hurdle, and a serious one for many people, is that owning an EV without owning a house is really impractical in most places in the US. We need charging stations at apartment complexes, but that's one of those things that is unlikely to happen until EV ownership is widespread enough to make it a feature potential renters will care about.
- lukasm 10y agoI'd buy electric BMW X1. I don't get why BMW has to put an electric motor in something as ugly as i3. Why not put it in 3 series?
- onion2k 10y agoBMW make a plugin hybrid 3 series, and there's a proper electric one coming in 2018.
- sokoloff 10y agoIn Cambridge, MA, my perception is that the "ugly" of hybrids and full electrics is a feature/benefit due to the signaling effect. The original Prius (that looked like a normal Toyota) sold less well than the second generation that was conspicuously saving the environment. Disclosure: I drive a LEAF and live in Cambridge. When my wife and I swapped cars for the day and I asked her how she liked the LEAF, her answer was, "I really liked the idea that I was saving pollution and that my friends could see me getting out of a LEAF."
- jagger27 10y agoRight? It's not like they didn't know that people /want/ normal looking cars (ehem, the Model S proved that). Why didn't they adapt a Mini or something else more familiar for their first kick at the market?
- twelve40 10y agoThat was my biggest beef with electric cars. I found all these new designs repulsive and was puzzled by the fact that by some universal law, any electric car must come with an ugly design. As soon as regular-looking ones started appearing, I got one (an e-Golf) and a year into it, cannot be happier with it.
- mantas 10y ago> We need charging stations at apartment complexes Not only stations, but all parking spots at the apt complexes should be electrified. And some way to authorise the charge to make sure a friendly neighbour doesn't leech off somebody else's electricity.
- varjag 10y agoIt's less of a problem than it seems. I have an EV living in a large apt complex. There's an EV charging area with stations accepting tokens that you buy from the housing coop. The tokens pay down the cost of the stations and of electricity, so they are not an externality imposed onto ICE vehicle owners. Zero problems.
- gsnedders 10y agoTo be fair, most of the apartment blocks I'm aware of in Norway don't have any dedicated parking, but there are large amounts of free on-street charging points at least around Oslo.
- flurdy 10y agoI think widespread charging plugs in apartment complexes and car parks come with demand and some encouragement with tax breaks over time. People that may already have an EV will prefer complexes with available plugs when moving flats, the government may encourage new complexes to add plugs by default, etc. But it may take time if not general incentives to increase market share of EV are made. I know by my parents 'housing estate' in Norway the cars there are now around 1/3 EVs (mix of eGolf, Leaf and Teslas), and in the indoor basement carpark, there is now a plug to charge the cars by each spot. (Also helps to heat up conventional cars in the morning...). And they are just rebuilding the external garages to include proper plugs due to demand by the residents. Ps. I am looking forward to the Jaguar I-Pace (http://www.jaguar.co.uk/jaguar-range/i-pace-concept-car/index.html http://www.jaguar.co.uk/jaguar-range/i-pace-concept-car/inde...) Though not perhaps an affordable crossover. Especially as Im in the not so EV friendly UK).
- jagger27 10y ago> the government may encourage new complexes to add plugs by default, etc. No need. Any semi-premium builder is more than happy to add features to their spec sheet, and 240V outlets are nothing special. Retro-fitting older places is where things get expensive and iffy.
- TheAdamAndChe 10y agoKeyword: semi-premium. Electric vehicles are only accessible to the rich at the moment. We need to make it possible for poorer people to get electric vehicles too.