We’ve all heard the phrase “Go Green” and most are trying to do their part. I recycle, use a reusable grocery bag and clean with environment safe products, but I’ve had a hard time getting into the “green” car. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to not buy gas, but something has just seemed wrong about an electric car. Recently, though, I test drove the new Nissan Leaf and I’ve made the jump to the other side. LEAF stands for Leading, Environmentally friendly, Affordable, Family car.
I was apprehensive about test driving the car, but a friend convinced me to. I was quickly amazed; I didn’t even feel like I was driving a car, I felt as if I were in a vehicle from the future. Instead of a gas gauge, there is a battery monitor telling you how many miles were left until the power ran out. The Leaf makes very little noise due to no shifting of gears or engine horsepower which takes away the sound of a congested city and rush hour. The ride was so smooth and peaceful. You’d think a car with no horsepower backing it wouldn’t move too fast..wrong! The pick up speed was very impressive. Since there aren’t gears to shift, it was a straight shot from 0 to 60 without even realizing how fast I was going. We joked during the test drive that my number of speeding tickets would drastically increase!
The Nissan Leaf is a 100% electric motor car. Unlike the other green cars, the Leaf doesn’t even have a gas tank. It doesn’t give off tailpipe pollution and reduces the dependability on gas. Think about how much cleaner the air would be if even just half the cars on the road weren’t giving off tailpipe pollution; the air would be healthier for us to breathe, the city wouldn’t look so “smoggy” and it would smell better. It is powered by a lithium ion battery that stays charged for 100 miles, then it’s time to “fill up”—re-charge the car. Pretty cheap fill up, huh? It sure beats my $72 a tank gas bill. There are two options to re-charge the battery. You can buy an at home charging station or find your local “fill up” location. Ed Hicks Nissan here in Corpus Christi allows Leaf owners to charge their car at their dealership. Cars aren’t invincible and have things break on them but the battery for the Leaf has an average life span of about 10 years. Impressive; I go through a battery about every 2 years. There is another battery that charges the computer system, radio, headlights and wind shield wipers that is partly powered by solar panels located on the spoiler. The headlights on the Leaf are LED lights that consume 50% less energy than the typical halogen lights.
The base retail price of the car is about $32,000. When I was first told this my first thought was, “well, that’s not really in my price range at the moment” but then after speaking to the gentleman, he explained why it is affordable. As I mentioned, it costs me $72 a week to fill up, that’s $288 a month on gas alone—that could easily go to a car payment. You then have to consider that since its 100% electric, there isn’t an engine, alternator, etc. that you have to worry about breaking, and we all know how pricey that can get. Suddenly the $32,000 didn’t seem so bad, especially when you consider exactly how much just changing cars will help improve the environment.
I’m not looking to a buy a new car instantly, but when it’s time to say bye to my Nissan Xterra, I’ll highly consider doing my part to “Go Green” and give a Leaf a new home—in my parking spot.
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