The annual killer deals on Nissan Leafs are in full swing. We've recently seen a base Leaf at $79 (plus fees) down and $79/month for 24 months in Portland. Even if you're not a fan of leases, this is still pretty sweet. Not sure if you can apply for state rebates on top of this, [Oops, apparently not!]
Many units up in Seattle for purchase. For buyers who will register in Oregon, Base models have hit around $16-17K again, but the big news is that we've seen the 'Plus' version with the 50% larger battery pack down to $21K after rebates/credits. Woo.
This won't last, as usual
So, someone actually requested this awhile ago and we got much of it written, and then a pandemic.
...and I'm finally getting around to posting. There's very few edits involved in a four month delay. Surprised? You shouldn't be ;-) On with the show:
Although the truly amazing deals from a year ago (see previous posts) are gone, fear not, they will come again! In the meantime, you can still get a new Nissan Leaf for right at $20K after all (including Oregon) rebates. Don't pay attention to Tonkin dealership advertised prices, they are slime-mold and 'include' the rebates in the advertised price.
Firstly, our 2018 40KWh Nissan Leaf is doing fine. In fact more than fine. Absolutely no problems at all in the 25,000 miles we've put on it. It hasn't been into the dealer for the firmware upgrade that allows faster fast charging, so we still get only about 2/3rds of the 'fast' charge rate that our 2017 30KWh Leaf exhibited. Reports indicate it isn't all that much faster even with the update, except on second and third fast charges in a single day, like on a trip. As a result the bigger battery does you only a little good when traveling. The Longer range is offset by longer charging times, depending on your trip route and conditions. In day to day local use this is partially offset by the faster AC/home charging, which is about twice as fast as home charging a 2017. The 60KWh 2020 Leaf+ is apparently doing better, but it's still ~$10K more. See the -go-to- blog for Leaf facts & data: DaveInOly who has a GREAT post about the tradeoffs.
Still our Leaf gets us where we need to go, no fuss no muss no bother. We still hate the sun visors (See previous posts.)
Note that the four iMievs that we have local knowledge of are still doing fine as are the five Leafs.
Battery recommendations haven't changed. Letting the car sit fully charged, especially when it's hot leads to about twice the battery degradation (ie: half the battery life) than you'd achieve if you were paying attention and actually cared. Only charging to 80% is still the recommendation, except just before a long jaunt. If you NEED 100% on a daily basis, you'll get less life and probably should have purchased a different vehicle. Obviously this is a bigger concern for the lower end EV crowd than for those with long range Teslas and proportionally deep pockets.
Rant about Toyota: Despite having some of the best plug-in hybrids out there (Prius Prime and especially the RAV4 Prime) Toyota has gone out of their way to kiss the trumpian ass, oppose fuel mileage standards, oppose EV legislation and put serious money behind lawsuits in support of those goals. They have consistently come out as promoting their bottom line and their lack of vision. being late to the EV party, and have shown themselves as a net detriment to society and the earth. We strongly oppose buying Toyota products at this time. Dumping their stock would be good too. </rant>
Updates on purchase recommendations:
There have been a couple questions about Arcimoto. They are cute, fun, locally produced (buy local!) and seem to work pretty well. They are also grossly unsafe, less than ideally suited to wintery/rainy climates and ridiculously expensive ($20K, no rebates) for what they do. Electric motorcycles are more fun and less expensive. However, if you have the deep pockets necessary to support this kind of thing, have at it. We've been in a pre-production unit and talked to an owner. They are a hoot.
The remainder of the recommendations are pretty much the same as previous posts.
If you want new, and have the required level of financial wherewithal to support it the top answer is still Tesla.
Sedan: Tesla Model 3, $36-37K after rebates.
Crossover/more capacity: Tesla Model Y, $44-48K after rebates. [remember Tesla and GM no longer qualify for the Federal Tax Rebate]
We still don't recommend the autopilot options unless you have a long freeway commute, in which case get a different job. The long range versions would be nice, but it's a large $$ jump for little day-to-day gain, except in certain cases. See 'long commute' above ;-) The Tesla Supercharger network is about 10X better than anyone else's distance charging 'solution' despite hype from other sources.
What about BMW and Jaguar and Audi and and and... High prices and unproven reliability vs. Tesla.
A case could be made for the Kia Nero or (essentially identical) Hyundai Kona, which give you the mini-SUV/Crossover thing for about $10K less than a model Y. We suspect that long term, battery life and resale value will cause the Tesla to come out ahead. YMMV.
The new Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid could be worth a look. In theory it will be under $30K after rebates if you get the bottom model and don't get screwed over by the dealer. The once and future Ford Mustang EV may still happen. We'll see how that pans out as actual vehicles get delivered someday. VW may also turn into something someday.
For those of you with lesser means, the best deals out there in our opinion are off-lease 2017 Leafs. You get the bigger and more capable battery (compared to the 2015's) and still should stay under $10K if you're smart and persistent. We're not worried, dumb and immediate gratification wannabees don't read this blog.
If you've only $4-6K to spend a 2014 iMiev or 2015 Leaf can do the job. See previous posts.
Granted getting one of those 'checked out' can be difficult. One thing that might help is reading up on CANion (iMiev) or Leaf Spy (Leaf, duh) with which you can check out the battery packs on your phone/tablet. Then leave the rest of the checkout to car-knowledgeable friends. If everything works, it will probably stay working. The battery is always the big and expensive question. See a previous post about that. Bad stuff you're looking for is a battery cell that's noticeably lower then the others when the pack is below 20% charge -AND- under load, like going up a hill. Seeing that cell temperatures are consistent is good too. This CANion/LeafSpy checkout, when done right will tell you more than even the dealer's battery check can in some cases (the dealer thing is still worth doing).
"Waaaa, that's too much bother!" Well, summon thy large bank account and go forth!
The NCTC No Charge to Charge incentive that Nissan offered is now dead. Make sure the charging you need is available. ...usually at home...
Also: True electric vehicle environmental 'cred' is still only available to electric bicycle pilots.
Firstly, our 2018 40KWh Nissan Leaf is doing fine. In fact more than fine. Absolutely no problems at all in the 25,000 miles we've put on it. It hasn't been into the dealer for the firmware upgrade that allows faster fast charging, so we still get only about 2/3rds of the 'fast' charge rate that our 2017 30KWh Leaf exhibited. Reports indicate it isn't all that much faster even with the update, except on second and third fast charges in a single day, like on a trip. As a result the bigger battery does you only a little good when traveling. The Longer range is offset by longer charging times, depending on your trip route and conditions. In day to day local use this is partially offset by the faster AC/home charging, which is about twice as fast as home charging a 2017. The 60KWh 2020 Leaf+ is apparently doing better, but it's still ~$10K more. See the -go-to- blog for Leaf facts & data: DaveInOly who has a GREAT post about the tradeoffs.
Still our Leaf gets us where we need to go, no fuss no muss no bother. We still hate the sun visors (See previous posts.)
Note that the four iMievs that we have local knowledge of are still doing fine as are the five Leafs.
Battery recommendations haven't changed. Letting the car sit fully charged, especially when it's hot leads to about twice the battery degradation (ie: half the battery life) than you'd achieve if you were paying attention and actually cared. Only charging to 80% is still the recommendation, except just before a long jaunt. If you NEED 100% on a daily basis, you'll get less life and probably should have purchased a different vehicle. Obviously this is a bigger concern for the lower end EV crowd than for those with long range Teslas and proportionally deep pockets.
Rant about Toyota: Despite having some of the best plug-in hybrids out there (Prius Prime and especially the RAV4 Prime) Toyota has gone out of their way to kiss the trumpian ass, oppose fuel mileage standards, oppose EV legislation and put serious money behind lawsuits in support of those goals. They have consistently come out as promoting their bottom line and their lack of vision. being late to the EV party, and have shown themselves as a net detriment to society and the earth. We strongly oppose buying Toyota products at this time. Dumping their stock would be good too. </rant>
Updates on purchase recommendations:
 |
| Newly delivered Archimoto |
The remainder of the recommendations are pretty much the same as previous posts.
If you want new, and have the required level of financial wherewithal to support it the top answer is still Tesla.
Sedan: Tesla Model 3, $36-37K after rebates.
Crossover/more capacity: Tesla Model Y, $44-48K after rebates. [remember Tesla and GM no longer qualify for the Federal Tax Rebate]
We still don't recommend the autopilot options unless you have a long freeway commute, in which case get a different job. The long range versions would be nice, but it's a large $$ jump for little day-to-day gain, except in certain cases. See 'long commute' above ;-) The Tesla Supercharger network is about 10X better than anyone else's distance charging 'solution' despite hype from other sources.
What about BMW and Jaguar and Audi and and and... High prices and unproven reliability vs. Tesla.
A case could be made for the Kia Nero or (essentially identical) Hyundai Kona, which give you the mini-SUV/Crossover thing for about $10K less than a model Y. We suspect that long term, battery life and resale value will cause the Tesla to come out ahead. YMMV.
The new Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid could be worth a look. In theory it will be under $30K after rebates if you get the bottom model and don't get screwed over by the dealer. The once and future Ford Mustang EV may still happen. We'll see how that pans out as actual vehicles get delivered someday. VW may also turn into something someday.
For those of you with lesser means, the best deals out there in our opinion are off-lease 2017 Leafs. You get the bigger and more capable battery (compared to the 2015's) and still should stay under $10K if you're smart and persistent. We're not worried, dumb and immediate gratification wannabees don't read this blog.
If you've only $4-6K to spend a 2014 iMiev or 2015 Leaf can do the job. See previous posts.
Granted getting one of those 'checked out' can be difficult. One thing that might help is reading up on CANion (iMiev) or Leaf Spy (Leaf, duh) with which you can check out the battery packs on your phone/tablet. Then leave the rest of the checkout to car-knowledgeable friends. If everything works, it will probably stay working. The battery is always the big and expensive question. See a previous post about that. Bad stuff you're looking for is a battery cell that's noticeably lower then the others when the pack is below 20% charge -AND- under load, like going up a hill. Seeing that cell temperatures are consistent is good too. This CANion/LeafSpy checkout, when done right will tell you more than even the dealer's battery check can in some cases (the dealer thing is still worth doing).
"Waaaa, that's too much bother!" Well, summon thy large bank account and go forth!
The NCTC No Charge to Charge incentive that Nissan offered is now dead. Make sure the charging you need is available. ...usually at home...
Also: True electric vehicle environmental 'cred' is still only available to electric bicycle pilots.
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