My electric Vehicle Journey

Six months ago my husband and I made the decision to purchase an electric vehicle. We decided this was another thing we could do to lower our carbon footprint. We are fortunate to be a two car family and the electric car would be the one I would drive primarily. Since this is our first experience with an electric car our plan is to use it for all of our around town driving and for longer trips we’ll use my husband’s car.

I started the process by visiting local dealerships that carry cars the size and budget I was looking for. Back in July inventory was very scarce. There were no electric cars in showrooms and none available to test drive. It was a tricky time to be trying to make a purchase. Luckily a friend had let me drive his Nissan Leaf a few years ago, so I had a comfort level with that vehicle. Also, the Leaf is one of the more affordable electric cars on the market so it fit my budget (and it qualified for a rebate and federal tax credit). When I visited the Nissan dealership the salesman said he could put my name on a list and when an electric car comes in he would give me a call. He said don’t expect to hear from him for about six months as I was number eight on his list. That didn’t sound very promising but I gave him my name and contact information and told him eight was my lucky number.

About a month later I heard from my salesman saying he was going down his list and would like a deposit to separate those who are really serious about wanting a Leaf and those casually looking. I gave him a deposit and moved to second on his list. I told him blue is my favorite color and he said that’s very nice but there is a paint shortage so the cars are only coming in black or white.

Three months later I received a call that my car was being delivered at the end of the month! And so it was that I became the proud owner of a black Nissan Leaf.

Having a brand new car is such a treat because the car I was driving was a 14 year old very reliable Honda but it didn’t have any of the bells and whistles new cars have. I’m loving all the fun toys on it like the back-up camera and vibrating steering wheel if I get too close to the yellow line. But what I’m really enjoying is knowing I’m doing what’s right for the environment. I love taking my grandchildren for rides in the car and explaining to them that the car is not polluting the air.

A Leaf has a range of about 150 miles (less when running the heater or air conditioner). I’ve discovered an average day of driving uses about 20% of the charge. I can go three or four days before needing to charge. I generally charge overnight as I had an electrician install a 220 outlet in our garage for that purpose.

The Leaf has a feature called Eco mode which extends its range a bit. I leave mine in Eco mode continuously so in ideal conditions I could go for about 200 miles.

I love how quiet the ride is, how quickly it accelerates and low maintenance schedule (no oil changes or tune ups!) It also has a feature called e-pedal. When I engage that I control braking by lifting my foot off the accelerator. Apparently this helps the brakes not wear out so brake pads don’t need to be replaced regularly. So far I am totally enjoying driving an electric vehicle.