Would you ever buy an electric car?

[DucatiTorrey]

the wife and i had an electric car conversation after seeing a nissan leaf commercial on tv the other day. The consensus was yeah, we would get one, depending on the price (april release).

check this out
Electric Car NISSAN LEAF on sale April 2010
how the hell do you embed youtube here....?

anyways, i think its cool. it would replace our saturn, would keep our forester and Ducati, of course.

what do you guys think. eventually these will be the norm, and im stoked.

[DucatiTorrey]

ha ha ha "and most importantly, no tailpipe" the first thing i thought was, if ducati ever makes an electric motorcycle and i can't put a termi on it, i'm done, i retire....

[KnightofNi]

it depends on where the electricity comes from.

am i buying something that will still pollute because of the extra demand put on powerplants or will i be able to use something much cleaner to recharge the car?

also, what's the range and the recharge time? if it takes 4 hrs to recharge after 200mi then i can't take it on trips so i have to have another vehicle anyways and i'm not going to buy 2 cars to feel better about my "carbon footprint"



i really like the idea of somethign that pollutes less and all that, but it has to be practical, and it has to be functional.



ohh and lets not forget the importance of performance. i can get around not having the roar of the engine, but the thing has to perform well. think of the tesla but with range and fast recharge times

[Autostrada Pilot]

I'd rock an electric car, but my wife would have to have a gas car for when we go on road trips.

I usually just drive to work and drive home after (well less than 200 miles), but would also have a gas car in case I needed to do more driving than 200.

Electric cars need to stop being so ugly (Tesla did it right) and stop being so expensive before I buy one. 

[NorDog]

I wouldn't buy a damn electric car unless I was forced to do so.  Don't even get me started on electric motorcycles.

[Vindingo]

also, what's the range and the recharge time? if it takes 4 hrs to recharge after 200mi then i can't take it on trips so i have to have another vehicle anyways and i'm not going to buy 2 cars to feel better about my "carbon footprint"

Just saw another video on youtube... 100miles per charge.  16 hours on standard home voltage in US, but they think you could hook it up to 220 for a faster charge.  Sounds like they have a long way to go before this is practical.  You can't even drive it to work if you work a normal 8 hour day.  

[DucatiTorrey]

Yeah, 16 hours 110 v or 8 220v charging time. or quick charge is 28 minutes to 80% full. They are planning on charging stations all over, at malls, work places etc.

costs $3 to charge, you can pick when it charges, example is at night when rates are lower

you can travel 100 miles on a typical normal commute. more people inside reduces this, as does AC and other things.

you can even get smartphone alerts when its done charging, or turn AC/heat on from your smartphone or schedule it, before you leave.

[DucatiTorrey]

 You can't even drive it to work if you work a normal 8 hour day.  

why is this? do you work more than 50 miles away?

[Drjones]

What's the decision factor?  To save money or save carbon emissions?  If the former go back to junior high algebra.  The estimated MSRP for the Leaf is $25k.  MSRP on a Versa is $10k.  MSRP even on an Altima is $20k.  Most will never save enough money at the gas pump to offset the purchase price premium of the electric car.  When the electric reaches the break even point with the internal combustion then you'll be ready to trade in for a new car.

Go buy a good two year old used mid-sized car and wait 5 more years when electric car prices come down and gas prices increase more.  Then buy a good two year old used electric car.

[DucatiTorrey]

What's the decision factor? 

For us, its an environmental thing, not money. The Leaf is something like 90% recyclable post use too

The estimated MSRP for the Leaf is $25k. 

where did you read this? I thought they hadn't released the price yet.

Go buy a good two year old used mid-sized car and wait 5 more years when electric car prices come down and gas prices increase more.  Then buy a good two year old used electric car.

Yeah, Jay Leno (screw him though, I'm with COCO) said it best, he's more green driving huge V8's since they are over 30 40 50 years old, most people replace cars waaaay too fast

[Howie]

Based on what is available today, if I was wealthy I would replace a petro product burner in my fleet with one.  Since I am not wealthy and do not have a fleet, the answer is no.

[Triple J]

Never say never, but with current technology probably not. In a few years when there are more charging stations and the range has improved...and/or at least the price has come down...maybe.

Tesla is supposed to be coming out with a very slick looking sedan in the $50K range. Still too much for me, but better.

am i buying something that will still pollute because of the extra demand put on powerplants or will i be able to use something much cleaner to recharge the car?

Depends on where you live. All of our power in Seattle comes from Hydroelectric, so no additional pollution (provided we don't run out of water).

Also, charging cars will put additional loads on powerplants...and ones that pollute will indeed pollute more. However, it is still more environmentally friendly to get your energy for transit from them as opposed to cars. Large point sources of pollution are far easier to regulate and keep "clean" than millions of individual point sources (i.e. car tailpipes), which are subject to varying pollution regulations per city/county, and individual owner maintenance (or non-maintenance) practices. Yearly smog checks help...but they aren't always required, there are a ton of loop holes, and they're only yearly.

[superjohn]

If I could afford a car to just drive around town that was small, electric, comfy and looked good, I would certainly go for it.

I was just thinking about this the other day. Putting aside all the Eco humdrum and just evaluating an electric drivetrain on it's merits and it makes a pretty good city car. Quiet, instant torque, and minimal energy consumption at a complete stop make it ideal for crowded urban areas.

[Monster Dave]

Only if I can have this one:

[NorDog]

A couple of questions I never hear in "electric car" discussions are, what's the battery life, and what's the battery replacement cost?