by ksnogas2112 (Posted Mon, 29 Apr 2013 07:53:41 GMT)
PaperKitty,
Regarding long range trip concerns...how often do you really take those trips. I know we all think 'hey, but i want to drive to xyz and see the oh my gosh' but really how often? I have a co-worker who heads home to his folks 4-6 times a year in Jennings, KS which is so remote a location that they drive to Nebraska to get to WalMart. Clearly he has frequent long drives. A Leaf is not for him.
For me I need to hit 120 miles hiway 2-3 times a year. If I was a single car person then for those weekends I would just rent a nice dino-burner. But since we have two I takes the wife's Prius.
My understanding of LA weather is that the summer high's are a little lower than here so you should be good there but the high heat in the 80's-90's for a longer time might be a concern. Just doing a SWAG on the battery degradation model it looks like you'll hit battery end of life (70% capacity) around year seven (73 epa miles/charge X 70% = 51 mile range).
If this works for you and you have the need/capacity for the tax incentive then rock on and buy. If not then you would want to lease. In my opinion EV's are here to stay (finally). There are too many options now to be concerned about never having EV's available. Given the speed of change I'm going to be leasing after this and treat the car like a cell phone. Keep upgrading to get the new features.
Let us know what you decide. See if the dealer will let you have an extended test drive like over night.
PaperKitty,
Regarding long range trip concerns...how often do you really take those trips. I know we all think 'hey, but i want to drive to xyz and see the oh my gosh' but really how often? I have a co-worker who heads home to his folks 4-6 times a year in Jennings, KS which is so remote a location that they drive to Nebraska to get to WalMart. Clearly he has frequent long drives. A Leaf is not for him.
For me I need to hit 120 miles hiway 2-3 times a year. If I was a single car person then for those weekends I would just rent a nice dino-burner. But since we have two I takes the wife's Prius.
My understanding of LA weather is that the summer high's are a little lower than here so you should be good there but the high heat in the 80's-90's for a longer time might be a concern. Just doing a SWAG on the battery degradation model it looks like you'll hit battery end of life (70% capacity) around year seven (73 epa miles/charge X 70% = 51 mile range).
If this works for you and you have the need/capacity for the tax incentive then rock on and buy. If not then you would want to lease. In my opinion EV's are here to stay (finally). There are too many options now to be concerned about never having EV's available. Given the speed of change I'm going to be leasing after this and treat the car like a cell phone. Keep upgrading to get the new features.
Let us know what you decide. See if the dealer will let you have an extended test drive like over night.