Would you buy a $20K EV?

[Capt Worley PE]

Nissan hopes so. They hoped to sell 20K units last year, but didn't quite sell half that number. Now they are building the Leaf in the US and slashing the price.

Nissan has announced that U.S. pricing for the new 2013 Nissan LEAF will start at an MSRP of $28,800 for the newly-added S grade, making it the lowest priced five-passenger electric vehicle sold in the United States.

Depending on location, some consumers may purchase the vehicle for as low as $18,800 with qualifying federal and state tax credits, putting the LEAF on par with gas-powered vehicles of its size.

/>http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/channels/us-united-states-nissan-models-leaf/releases/nissan-brings-new-u-s-assembled-2013-leaf-to-market-with-major-price-reduction

Would you pay $20K for an EV with a range of less than 100 miles? With the rising (the price of electricity will necessarily skyrocket) cost of electricity, I'd be loathe to commit to an EV when out gov could very well be responsible for jacking up electrical rates to German ($0.42/kW-hr) rates to encourage alternative energy sources.

 

[Master slacker]

Not just no, but hell no. $5k is where I'd plunk money down on something that can't stray far from home.

 

[MA_PE]

Link was down so I couldn't read the full article. Sorry but a 100 mile range is a deal breaker for me. I'm in the Boston suburbs and my round trip commute is less than 25 miles, but I would not commit to a vehicle that is limited to 100 miles. If I was going to do that, I'd probably get a vespa-like scooter.

 

[Flyer_PE]

^I'd do the same. If I can only go 100 miles, might as well do it on a motorcycle of some type.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I'd buy a used Prius before I'd buy a Leaf.

 

[snickerd3]

I put more than 100 per day on my car...thats a total deal breaker for me

 

[roadwreck]

I dunno, I would consider it. The majority of my driving is to and from the office, a round trip of just under 40 miles. It'd be nice to not have to have to stop at the gas station to fill up every week. A downside is that for a car like this you'd need an additional vehicle for longer trips, which makes it impractical for most people. The argument that electric prices will "necessarily" skyrocket and thus make a vehicle like this impractical assumes that gasoline prices wouldn't also skyrocket.

I think the thing that would dissuade me from buying an EV would be the need for an additional vehicle if I wanted to make longer trips.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

The argument that electric prices will "necessarily" skyrocket and thus make a vehicle like this impractical assumes that gasoline prices wouldn't also skyrocket.

So much of electrical costs are being driven by the vendetta against coal plants that I can logical see electrical rates tripling or quadrupling and gasoline prices staying stagnant (I think they are artifivcially high right now).