I just bought a free car for $7700.
Nissan Leafs are all-electric family cars with a range of about 80 miles between charges, and they are dirt cheap right now. We bought a
2012 Leaf SL with only 30k miles for $7700, and it has a 7 inch touch screen with GPS navigation, heated seats front and back, remote control from your phone, keyless push-button start, LED headlights, heated mirrors and steering wheel, and oh yeah it never uses gasoline at all. Craigslist is full of them. Check out the
KBB values.
Why has this super fancy modern technological marvel depreciated by 80% in only 30k miles of driving? How is this amazing bargain possible? In part it's because your tax dollars subsidized a $7500 federal tax rebate off of the MSRP when they were new, in part because the newer model years came out with improved range at reduced cost, in part because of falling gas prices, and in part because the market is currently flooded with lease returns from the 3-year lease term that the manufacturer was pushing when these cars were new. Basically every single lease return was sent to auction instead of resold by the leasing dealers, so there are a ton of these cars for sale everywhere right now. Asking prices have dropped over $1000 in the past two months and may continue to fall. By August, the new 2017 model will be released with ~130 miles of range, and any unsold 2012 cars will be worth even less.
What about that limited range, is that a problem? My family drives less than 25 miles in a typical day of commuting, kid activities, and any errands we have to run. We expect to drive even less once we're retired. We still have our old SUV for family road trips and Home Depot runs, but my biggest worry is going to be remembering to take it around the block every two weeks to keep it in good working order. The Leaf will handle all of our average daily driving while only using about 1/3 of its battery capacity, so I feel confident the range won't be an issue most of the time. I'll report back.
Wait, you said this car was free, how does that work?Electricity for the car costs less than 3 cents/mile. Gas for my old SUV costs about 12 cents/mile while gas prices are under $2/gallon, and closer to 25 cents/mile if gas price go back to where they were two years ago. After figuring in the additional cost of licensing plus insurance on a second vehicle, reduced repair costs on the old SUV, and our expected mileage, I figure we're saving a bit more than $100/month in total operating costs to have two vehicles instead of just one. At $7700 out of pocket, if I drive the Leaf for at least six years then I will have spent less money to have two cars than I would have spent on just one vehicle over those same years. If I drive it a very mustachian 10 years, I figure it will save me about $5k in operating cost which I can apply towards my next vehicle. Any charging I do at free public charging stations, instead of at home, will only improve that number.
Your car looks funny.So do you. Pictures are below.
Why did you buy a 2012?The Nissan Leaf underwent an invisible redesign for the 2013 model year. The battery and charger and heater got better, they changed the trim lines and added leather seats, and they added more rear cargo space (by shrinking the battery) without making any changes to the exterior of the car. As a result of these changes, the buyer demand for the "inferior" older cars plummeted. Resale prices for 2013+ model year Leafs are currently about $4k higher than for the 2011/12 model year versions, because people seem to think that charging in 4 hours instead of 8 hours is really important to a car that is parked for 10 hours in a garage every night. I don't get it either. If I really want leather seats, I'll buy leather seat covers and they won't cost $4k.
How do you charge it?Nissan recommends that you spend $500 to buy a
220V charger that plugs into a dryer/stove outlet, which will charge the 2012 leaf from empty to full in 8 hours (or 4 hours for the 2013+ version). All Leafs come with an emergency trickle charger that plugs into a regular 110V wall outlet and will charge the battery from empty to full in about 20 hours. Or you can always use the "quickcharge" port at public charging stations, which will give you 80% charge in 30 minutes and typically cost you ~$7.50 to do it, but at that price the cost/mile is almost as bad as buying gasoline so I'm not planning to do that unless I actually have to drive more than ~100 miles in a day. In our case, we haven't decided if it's even worth it to spend the $500 to get the 8 hour 220V charging station for our garage, because at only 25 miles per day the included 110V trickle charger seems sufficient to get us back to a full charge while the car is parked overnight, and we still have a second vehicle for backup if necessary.
What about battery replacement costs?All cars wear out eventually. In a normal gasoline car you can expect an engine and/or transmission rebuild about every 200k miles. In a Nissan Leaf the lithium-ion battery slowly degrades over time, losing capacity and thus reducing the driving range, until you're down to about 70% of the original range after 120k miles. If 58 miles in a day isn't enough for you then you have to replace the battery, which Nissan currently charges $5,500 to do. This means that while you're only spending 2.8 cents/mile for electricity, you're technically spending 4.5 cents/mile on the eventual battery replacement cost. This is at least double the cost/mile of a typical car's engine/tranny rebuild cost, but it's also totally optional and will never leave you stranded with a thrown rod or blown head gasket. As the battery ages, the range slowly decreases and you can decide to replace it or not as your needs and finances dictate.
What are the other maintenance costs?An electric car has no alternator, spark plugs, fuel pump, radiator, serp belts, distributor, or starter motor to maintain/replace. The engine only has one moving part. It doesn't need regular oil changes, and it never needs a valve job (no valves) or clutch replacement (no clutch). It uses brake pads much more slowly, due to the regenerative braking. You still need to rotate the tires and clean the air filter. They're mechanically much more simple machines than gasoline cars, so I'm optimistic that long term maintenance costs will be low.
How is it to drive?More fun than I was expecting! Electric cars have 100% of their torque available at zero rpms, which means smooth instant acceleration (with no pauses due to shifting gears). There is no delay between stomping the peddle and feeling the lurch because there is no engine spin-up time and no clutch slip. It doesn't have the V6 passing power above 80 mph that our SUV does, but for around town driving I actually find it much more pleasant to drive. And I like that it is nearly silent. It's very much like riding a bicycle in traffic, in that you are much more aware of the engine noises around you. And it's roomier than I was expecting (I'm 6'4" and fit just fine, which is not true for all small cars).
Why did you buy a new (used) car?We've always been a single car family, but my oldest kid is approaching driver's ed age and a second set of wheels would come in handy about once per month. Over the course of my marriage there has been exactly one instance when we wanted a second car badly enough to go rent one for a few days. I think all of you folks with three cars are crazy. And as long as you have at least one gasoline car in your garage, I think an electric car is a viable primary vehicle for around-town driving for virtually everyone who lives in a town.
So are you like a smug eco-hippie?Yes, yes I am. Last year
I installed solar panels on my roof that generate more power than my home uses, by about the same amount I expect our electric car to require. My home will still consume some natural gas, and we're still paying for the carbon pollution inherent in the things we buy, but our overall household carbon footprint just dropped dramatically by reducing our gasoline consumption to near zero. About 80% of the world's petroleum is owned by places that actively support terrorism or are otherwise hostile to America, so every time you fill up your F-150 you're sending part of your paycheck to Al Qaeda and ISIS or dirty Communists or whatever. You're supporting terrorists, and I'm not.
You're a bad person and you should feel bad.
Surely there are some drawbacks?Of course.
1. The remote access app for controlling the car from your phone was recently discovered to have a
security flaw that could allow someone to turn on your heater (and thus drain your battery) remotely from the internet. They have disabled new registrations for the app until that gets fixed, but that doesn't affect used cars so not an issue for me.
2. Because EVs have so much more low-end torque than comparable small cars they tend to go through tires faster. The OEM Bridgestones that came on the car mostly went bad in less than 30k miles. My car came with new ones recently installed, as should basically any used Leaf, but I'm expecting about $100/year for new tires.
3. The door-side arm rest is about an inch lower than I want it to be. That will take some getting used to.
4. In North America, the telematics for updating the GPS maps and locations of public charge points runs on AT&T's 2G network, which is being discontinued at the end of 2016. Upgrade prices haven't been announced yet, but
owners of older cars will probably have to purchase a replacement part or do without updated telematics.
5. The older 2011/12 cars use battery chemistry that is more sensitive to heat than the 2013+ cars. If your car routinely sees temperatures above 95F then the battery will degrade more quickly.
Nissan's warranty will replace it for free if you hit 8 bars (out of 12) before 60k miles, but so far only people in the desert southwest who abused their batteries have seen that kind of loss. Colder climates mean your range per charge is reduced a little, but your battery capacity won't diminish as rapidly.
Why did you write all of this? It must have taken you like an hour.I just love you guys that much.