Hi Guys!
I read through the thread and learned some interesting things.
If I could get a Leaf relatively cheap it might work for us but I see the Leaf as a 'must have another car vehicle'. The Volt gets 53 miles on a charge but it can be a 'one car only needed vehicle'. So I think at this point I'm still hesitant to buy a Leaf even with my PV system making more power than we use. That just may be us as we're retired and don't have the tax breaks and don't put a lot of mileage on our cars. (My 2006 Subie Outback only has 73k miles on it).
I do like the idea of a small car to run into town 8 miles away that doesn't cost for fuel but once and awhile we take a relatively short trip so we would still need another vehicle if we got the Leaf or we would have to rent a car which kind of kills the cost saving of the EV.
The other thing is that the fit and finish of the Leaf was less that what we expected of a $32k car. For us something that gets 35 or 40 mpg is probably a better option even with the low gas prices. But this is just us and I truly love the idea of the EV.
I could build one, I have the electronics expertise and a decent machine shop but the trouble with that is you are sort of stuck with a 'one of'. Who wants to buy a home built EV, especially with L/A batteries? So I think a used one is a better option.
At this point in our technology I think the Volt is a pretty good option and they seem to hold their value better than the Leaf.
Rob
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