All I want for Christmas is a NISSAN LEAF!

I don't know what I want for Christmas this year, but I'm starting my 2010 list early.  A few weeks ago I went and saw the Nissan Leaf at Nissan's "Zero Emissions Tour" in San Jose, and I must say I'm pretty excited about it.  It's been a long wait for an all-electric commuter car that can do more than my 80-mile round-trip jaunt to work without the price tag of a Tesla Roadster.  The Nissan Leaf, with an advertised range of 100 miles  for a price somewhere around $30k, fits the bill perfectly, and with an estimated ship date in December 2010, it  would make a perfect Christmas present for that special someone on your Christmas list.

Why You Should Put the Nissan Leaf on Your Christmas List

As a class, Electric Vehicles are still in their early stages, and not everyone will be able to be one of the early adopters of the technology.  There are many benefits to electic cars, though, and I hope you'll join me in putting the Nissan Leaf on your Christmas list too.  There are a lot of good reasons why you should.

Cost Savings: Nissan estimates that the Leaf will cost just 4 cents a mile to operate, if charged overnight at off-peak rates.  My Acrua Integra gets pretty good gas milage--about 30 MPG.  If we assume that gas holds steady at about $3/gallon, that means that my current fuel costs are around 10 cents a mile.  I drive about 20,000 miles per year, so that 6-cent-per-mile savings is going to add up to about $1,200 per year!

Environmental Savings: No CO2 emissions from the car.  According to the EPA1, one gallon of gas produces 19.4 pounds of CO2, and perhaps five pounds of methane and nitrous oxide will be produced at the same time.  If you charge your car at home with solar panels, then you can eliminate just about all of this pollution, which is fantastic.  Not everyone has solar panels, though, but there is still a net decrease in pollution when driving an electric car charged from the grid.    We can estimate that the Nissan Leaf uses about a third of a KWh per mile.  The pollution levels depend on how the electricity was generated.  If we look only at CO2 production, we have:

So, my 30 MPG integra produces about 0.65 pounds of CO2 per mile, which is admittedly better than the corresponding pollution from a coal power plant.  However, while coal does amount to nearly half the electrical production in the U.S. right now3, when you average out the different kinds of power plants in use, the overall output is lower for a grid-charged Leaf.  A lot of cars on the road get less than 30 MPG, so the comparison between gas and electric is even better on average.  Nissan is claiming that the grid is about 60% cleaner than a gasoline-powered automobile, and the grid will get even cleaner over time4.  You can always install those solar panels on your home and go super-green right away!

Encourage Environmental Vehicle Development:  Right now, manufacturers are testing the waters with their new electric vehicles.  Early adopters of a new technology sometimes have to deal with some additional problems as manufacturers get the kinks out of their designs and production lines5, and some people will not be able to afford to be an early adopter.  If an electric vehicle would work for you, though, you should strongly consider becoming an early buyer.  You may have to put up with a few unexpected inconveniences, but the manufacturers and the Government are both motivated to help early adopters through this transitional period.  If the first round of electric vehicles sell well, it will spur development of the second generation.  By buying in when you can afford to do so, you can help speed the transition of the country from mostly-gas-automobiles to a predominantly electric vehicle nation.

Range and Charging

Some people are pessimistic about the viability of electric cars due to concerns of being stranded after driving beyond the range of their electric vehicle; this is commonly referred to as "range anxiety".  The Nissan Leaf will help people overcome their range anxiety with a built-in navigation system that will show all of the available charging stations in range at your current battery levels.  If worse comes to worse, you can also plug in your Leaf at a standard level-1 charger built-in, so you can charge up using any 110V outlet.  It takes 14 hours to go from zero-to-full in this mode, but for a little added range boost, this is a good fallback mechanism to have.

Home charging stations will be able to charge the Leaf in just eight hours.  These units cost about $800, but there will be incentives from the U.S. government that will provide consumers with around $2000 to purchase the unit and upgrade the electrical systems in their house to support it.  What's more, automobile manufacturers have standardized the specifications for the home charging station, so if you get one installed at your home, you won't be locked in to just one manufacturer.

There are also fast-charging stations that can charge a Leaf in only twenty minutes.  At $30,000 each, there are beyond the reach of most individuals; however, there are also going to be government incentives that will provide employers with $50,000 to purchase and install these stations at their place of business.  If your employer gets involved, you could extend your range by charging up at work.

Early adopters will find that electric cars are best used as commuter cars, and for making trips around home for shopping and so on.  Two-car families are therefore ideal candidates for early electric cars, especially if one family member has a long commute, and the other drives less.  In this household, an electric commuter car can greatly reduce the costs and environmental impact of the daily commute, and the family's second car could be used for those occasional long road trips.

For single-car individuals, an all-electric car might still be a viable option if most driving was around town.  For all of the fuel cost savings that can be enjoyed with an electric car, those who only occasionally go on long road trips can still come out quite a bit ahead if they go all electric on a day-to-day basis, and rent a gas guzzler when they need to head out of town.

Other All-Electric Cars Coming Out Soon

The Nissan Leaf is not the only all-electric car in the works; there are a few other manufacturers who are working on models of their own to tempt you.

The Tesla Model S is a bit more expensive at $50k, but it has a reported 300 mile range!  It is scheduled to ship "sometime in 2011", so you might have to wait a couple of Christmases if you're hoping to find this car in your stocking.  (Better look for a really big stocking...)

The Chevy Volt has an October 2010 ship date, but only a 40-mile range.  That unfortunately doesn't work well with my 80-mile commute (even with a charger at work), but it might be a good option for some people.  I think that a 100-mile range is a better entry point for most consumers.

BMW is coming out with an all-electric, 100-mile-range version of the Mini Cooper; while there are a number of articles about it on the internet, BMW does not have anything up on their website at the moment.  Rumours are that this car will be available sometime in 2010 or 2011; we'll have to wait and see if that turns out to be the case or not.

Footnotes:

2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel_power_plant

3: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_generation

4: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_phase_out

5: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aeQwon7TV3Fo: BMW’s Electric Mini Rollout Yields ‘Painful’ Lessons