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I bought a Leaf because it's much cheaper than the Jeep Grand Cherokee I had before (MSRP), and I spend a small fraction of the $200/month I was spending on gas

by ssmoot 13y ago

I bought a Leaf because it's much cheaper than the Jeep Grand Cherokee I had before (MSRP), and I spend a small fraction of the $200/month I was spending on gas to charge it up. I thought it was ugly as well before, but it grows on you. Honestly I think it's more of a familiarity thing. It's far from slow. It's faster than most hatchbacks in it's price range for city driving. You get a loaded Leaf for ~$27K (off the top of my head, after tax-credit). Anything faster is going to be in the same ball-park if not more (ie: VW GTi). I bought it because it saved me several hundred dollars a month and I've always liked hatchbacks. After test-driving it I was pleasantly surprised at just how much fun it was. Honestly I never considered it until a co-worker came back from a test-drive raving about it. Then I spent a few seconds thinking about it and realized it actually made some sense for my short commute.

freehunter 13y ago
But that can be the case for small hatchbacks as well. I traded from a Toyota 4Runner to a Fiat 500, and the Fiat was much cheaper (MSRP). I spend a small fraction of the $180/mo I was spending in gas (going from 15mpg to 35mpg). It's far from slow (even with only 101HP). I got it nearly fully-loaded for $18k (the only thing I don't have is the GPS built in). It's also super fun to drive. Obviously the 500 doesn't make sense for families (my SO and I have no plans for kids), but maybe the 500L would be a more apt comparison to a Leaf. All in all, the Leaf seems like a very expensive and very average small hatchback. I'm not trying to detract from your experience, I catch a lot of flak for driving a Fiat and I know how it feels. The comparisons you're using, however, are far from unique to vehicles like the Leaf. I would love to drive an electric car, but a small efficient hatchback running on gasoline (though I wish it was diesel) just makes more sense to me given the realities of electric car ownership.
- secabeen 13y ago
  Nissan's been dropping the price on the LEAF. If you live in a state that provides ZEV rebates on top of the federal credit, you can get a LEAF down to ~18k. Same applies to the other city-car EVs (Spark EV and 500E).
- ssmoot 13y ago
  I like the Fiat 500 a lot. That said, I think a 2-person vehicle is another category. My Dad drives a new-ish Ford Fiesta. It's a great little car. Especially for the price. It's not nearly as well equipped, nice or fast though. That said, I have zero maintenance beyond replacing tires. Something I never thought about before seriously considering the Leaf. All in all "very expensive" seems like a great injustice to the Leaf. It's not competing against a 500 for my dollar. It's competing against VW's and Volvos. It comes out with a lower payment, zero maintenance expenses (no oil, and I've always used Mobil1 so that's $100 pop), no engine air filter, no transmission fluid, no accessory belts, and it's cheaper to "fill up" than even the most efficient small car, while being a lot more fun to drive than most (especially if the comparisons are narrowed to high-efficiency gas vehicles). For me the Leaf doesn't compete with Fiestas and Aveos. It competes with Volvo C3's, VW Golfs, etc. It's got an average MSRP in that range and much lower cost of ownership. Frankly, I just don't see mounting a serious argument on a cost basis (as long as the tax credits still apply at least) without having a big blind-spot for the European imports in the same category to be honest.

by ssmoot 13y ago

freehunter 13y ago

But that can be the case for small hatchbacks as well. I traded from a Toyota 4Runner to a Fiat 500, and the Fiat was much cheaper (MSRP). I spend a small fraction of the $180/mo I was spending in gas (going from 15mpg to 35mpg). It's far from slow (even with only 101HP). I got it nearly fully-loaded for $18k (the only thing I don't have is the GPS built in). It's also super fun to drive. Obviously the 500 doesn't make sense for families (my SO and I have no plans for kids), but maybe the 500L would be a more apt comparison to a Leaf. All in all, the Leaf seems like a very expensive and very average small hatchback. I'm not trying to detract from your experience, I catch a lot of flak for driving a Fiat and I know how it feels. The comparisons you're using, however, are far from unique to vehicles like the Leaf. I would love to drive an electric car, but a small efficient hatchback running on gasoline (though I wish it was diesel) just makes more sense to me given the realities of electric car ownership.

secabeen 13y ago
Nissan's been dropping the price on the LEAF. If you live in a state that provides ZEV rebates on top of the federal credit, you can get a LEAF down to ~18k. Same applies to the other city-car EVs (Spark EV and 500E).
ssmoot 13y ago
I like the Fiat 500 a lot. That said, I think a 2-person vehicle is another category. My Dad drives a new-ish Ford Fiesta. It's a great little car. Especially for the price. It's not nearly as well equipped, nice or fast though. That said, I have zero maintenance beyond replacing tires. Something I never thought about before seriously considering the Leaf. All in all "very expensive" seems like a great injustice to the Leaf. It's not competing against a 500 for my dollar. It's competing against VW's and Volvos. It comes out with a lower payment, zero maintenance expenses (no oil, and I've always used Mobil1 so that's $100 pop), no engine air filter, no transmission fluid, no accessory belts, and it's cheaper to "fill up" than even the most efficient small car, while being a lot more fun to drive than most (especially if the comparisons are narrowed to high-efficiency gas vehicles). For me the Leaf doesn't compete with Fiestas and Aveos. It competes with Volvo C3's, VW Golfs, etc. It's got an average MSRP in that range and much lower cost of ownership. Frankly, I just don't see mounting a serious argument on a cost basis (as long as the tax credits still apply at least) without having a big blind-spot for the European imports in the same category to be honest.