Got rid of the 1er and am now driving a...

[Canefan]

wait for it....


Nissan Leaf!!!! I know - crazy right?? My wife and I just bought a lake house and we are circling the wagons a little with our finances right now to make it work. In GA, you can lease a Leaf and get a $5K tax credit. That, along with the gas savings, completely covers the cost of the lease making it a free car. There are a million of these things driving around here in Atlanta and it is the number 1 market in the world for the Leaf because of the favorable tax deal.

The driving experience is actually pretty reasonable, and there is something very satisfying about never having to buy gas. I have all of the electronic bells and whistles that I had in my many BMWs - Nav, Satellite radio, bluetooth, heated front and rear seats, heated steering wheel, etc. 0-60 in about 10secs.

The good news is, in 2 years when the lease is up I'm gonna need a car. Another BMW??? Actually, I like going electric so much it might be the Tesla.

Now, I gotta go buy a boat.

[darkrom]

Can't say I'd turn down a "free" car, but I'd keep the 135 on the side and enjoy that, while making the leaf my daily work beater.

If you have tesla money, get a tesla. They are amazing machines.

[IEDEI]

my condolences.

ugly. slow. and horrible. it can't get much worse.

i'd rather enjoy myself than to save money.

[darkrom]

Why not both IMO?

Like I said I'd take a "free" car I don't like and let that take the brunt of my work driving and bad weather days, while enjoying my 1 series. I could never own JUST a boring car, but sometimes it makes a great addition to what you have.

[P7X]

My first thought was, shoot yourself...... BUT you saved yourself with the 2 words below

Originally Posted by Canefan

Actually, I like going electric so much it might be the Tesla. Now, I gotta go buy a boat.

[chris82]

Haha id be very interested in having one as my DD. like you said its free, and never pay for gas.

[ShocknAwe]

What bugs me is many cities installing "free" charge stations. Are they doing that in ATL?

[128Convertibleguy]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

What bugs me is many cities installing "free" charge stations. Are they doing that in ATL?

Why does that bug you?

Electric cars are going to be a big deal in the future. One problem is of the chicken-egg sort. Some people won't buy electrics without charging stations. The private sector won't build charging stations without a large base of electrics. So, government steps in to bridge the gap. At some point, they'll be able to sell off those charging stations. Probably at a profit.

By and large, they're not free. Often they take a credit card.

Hydrogen powered cars are the same deal. Honda is betting that those will be even bigger. But, without an infrastructure of "gas" stations, it's a heavy lift.

Fossil fueled powered cars were a lot of fun. So were horse drawn buggies way back then. Bill Ford, chairman of Ford.

"Ford Motor has basically spent the last 30 years making faster horses, Ford said, but what Ford Motor Company plans to do in the next decade is build the Model T of the 21st century. If Ford doesn’t build that new Model T, then Silicon Valley most certainly will." Or Toyota.

[..]

Can't tell if serious...

[A_Squared]

Originally Posted by IEDEI

my condolences.

ugly. slow. and horrible. it can't get much worse.

i'd rather enjoy myself than to save money.

+1.....dont think I could ever make that sacrifice of power and enjoyment

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by 128Convertibleguy

Why does that bug you?


By and large, they're not free. Often they take a credit card.

Key words: "by and large" and "often"

Many are in fact "free". It's done as an incentive to increase electric car ownership. Which means what pays for it? Taxes. Your taxes, my taxes. I don't drive an electric car. So why does that bug me?

I do agree though, Hydrogen may well be the future. Lots of research going into that, better be done right. Electric power certainly isn't the answer. Massive step backwards if you ask me. More environmentally destructive by far and driving "range" is a joke as well.

[mike@x-ph.com]

[Jettt]

Originally Posted by IEDEI

my condolences.

ugly. slow. and horrible. it can't get much worse.

i'd rather enjoy myself than to save money.

[inFamousKicks]

Originally Posted by IEDEI

my condolences.

ugly. slow. and horrible. it can't get much worse.

i'd rather enjoy myself than to save money.

: so true

[128Convertibleguy]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Electric power certainly isn't the answer. Massive step backwards if you ask me. More environmentally destructive by far and driving "range" is a joke as well.

Certainly not more environmentally destructive. Makes perfect sense even now as a second car for a whole lot of city folks.

All kinds of ideas to improve the concept. Charging stations, battery exchange stations, etc.

I foresee a mix of alternative power systems. By far most drives are a short distance from home, and electric works best there.

http://gm-volt.com/2007/12/06/how-di...miles-per-day/

Long distance options are less clear, but hybrids/electrics are not going away. Eventually, gas is.

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by 128Convertibleguy

Certainly not more environmentally destructive.

I want some of whatever you're smoking buddy. Not everything is in daily emissions, most seem to overlook that.

Whatever, guy buys a Leaf. Good for him I guess. I'd rather drive 10 feet of steel rebar through my temples.

[PopsnBurbles]

Just don't wreck that leaf and it wouldn't be anymore environmentally destructive than a petrol fuelled car. It is only more destructive if the "battery" dies prematurely like that in a crash or burn. But yes, it's always nice to have something that's basically free.

[128Convertibleguy]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

I want some of whatever you're smoking buddy. Not everything is in daily emissions, most seem to overlook that.

I wasn't. I was talking "life cycle" analysis.

The gains are indeed far smaller than those seen from just analyzing vehicles emissions. Depending on the assumptions used, they may disappear in some locations, particularly those where manufacturing plants are powered by coal, and coal based electricity is used to power the cars. But they don't go entirely away, overall.

And they'll only get better as the electric car technology matures, and we proceed with the normal process of retiring old technology power plants, and building modern ones.

I'm not smoking anything these guys aren't.

http://www.technologyreview.com/view...-powered-ones/

[ShocknAwe]

Well, since you posted up some mighty nice opinion/op-ed writing based on gray literature, I'll share some peer reviewed research. Not gonna beat around the rumor mill.

I'm not saying it'll never get there. You might be able to perfect it in time. It's just not worth it. It's not practical, it's not fun, it's not overly "green" and it's only really cheap if you're offered a massive tax break, which in itself is fairly absurd. Spend the money on HFC tech instead. HFC vehicles will eventually replace those powered by conventional ICEs.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...532.x/abstract

[JimD]

No comment on the car. But with respect to boats, remember, almost nobody wears out a boat. In other words, used boats are a much better buy. We also recently got a lake house and we are using the boat I bought in 2000 for $5,000. It's still worth most of that, maybe more. It also works fine. You probably want something nicer, it is an aluminum fish and ski with walk through windshield. A bowrider. Limit is 6 passengers. When we're in decent shape on the house we'll add a pontoon and probably a jet ski (the new Ski doo looks interesting if you can be OK with 40 mph top end).

[Pig Farmer]

Remove the doors and get r-comp tires...

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...-a-911-feature

[MarkkyyMan]

My family purchased a new Chris Craft a couple years ago for our lake house, love it so far. The Volvo V8 is a awesome motor and really smooth. JimD is correct about the used boat suggestion, just try to get the history of the boat and service records.

The Nissan Leaf isn't the most desirable car in the world, especially to us enthusiasts. It is a very interesting car from an engineering standpoint though. I am still not completely sold on the electric car idea, I believe battery technology needs to evolve some more before they become practical for the majority of society. I honestly think natural gas has a better chance at becoming a large scale alternative fuel possibility in the US. Only major bummer is the gas tank life is relatively short and has to be replaced every few years.