I’ll be honest, I don’t understand the Nissan Leaf. Given SoCal traffic and heat, I can’t imagine most people wouldn’t need to plug it in after their morning commute to not risk running out of ‘gas’ on the way home.
MPGe is a bit laughable too. They use a conversion based on the BTU content of “gallon of gas” but assume a 100% efficiency in the production of electricity.
In the case of renewable like solar that may be true, if you charge during the day, in the case of coal, it’s 33%. Which mean if you’re charging in an area dominated by coal produced power, your real MPGe is 1/3rd…[/quote]
I’ve owned a LEAF for almost two years. I think you are over-thinking MPGe. If you are discounting the MPGe by accounting for the efficiency of electricity production why wouldn’t you also discount the less than 100% efficiency in producing the gallon of gas ?
The simplest way to consider the LEAF is to count dollars.
Assume $4 per gallon, 11 cents per kilowatt hour and and 10,000 miles a year.
One year of fuel for a LEAF is:
$323 (assuming 3.5 miles/kWhr, which is what I’ve averaged over 2 years).
One year of fuel for a Prius is:
$1000 (assuming 40 miles per gallon)
One year of fuel for an SUV
$2700 (assuming 15 miles per gallon)
Not to mention maintenance costs. So far, after 23 months of ownership we have spent a grand total of $0 on maintenance for our LEAF. Some day we will need to have brakes or new tires, and maybe a new battery after 8 or 10 years, but there are no oil changes. Electric motors are pretty simple.
SO Cal, particularly LA with our heavy stop and go traffic and mild climate is ideal for this car, especially in a 2-car family. Spouse and I fight over who gets to drive it and use it for all local travel that we can. For us, it’s a no brainer. Never have issues with range for 99% of our lives. Otherwise we drive the SUV on long trips.
If you own a home (so that you can wire up the 220 circuit), have two drivers in the family and one commutes less than about 30 miles each way to work, it’s a great deal.
If you live in Riverside county and commute into San Diego, or drive around a lot for work, or have to haul a truckload of stuff it’s not gonna work for you.
