Sitting in a dimly lit parking lot late at night, I’m waiting for my car to charge and subduing my two young children by reading them a book, when my 7-year-old son interrupts from the back seat.
“The guy who owns this car must be the most patient guy in the world,” he says.
So true.
Fully electric cars have been in the public consciousness for a while now. Movies have been made, books written and conspiracy theories put forth about them. Everyone seems to have an opinion about electric cars, especially since Nissan put the LEAF out four years ago and Chevy and Elon Musk followed with the economical Volt and luxury Tesla, respectively.
I’ve never really thought about driving one, until I heard an ad for the LEAF on the radio. The basic pitch was this: save enough money on gas, maintenance and government incentives to pay for the lease and then some. My inner skinflint was intrigued.
A week later, Nissan allowed me to use a LEAF — an acronym for Leading, Environmentally-friendly, Affordable, Family car — for a week and write about my experience.
Here, along with some insights from two local LEAF owners, are my thoughts:
See cars differently
Driving the LEAF for a week, I had a flashback to high school when kids played with tamagotchi, which are basically electronic pets. The feeling of keeping the car alive was the same. I was constantly worried about how many miles were left, what the car’s range was, where I was going to get my next charge, could I make it home?
This is called range anxiety and I was told by the LEAF owners I talked to that it goes away after a few weeks. But during my test drive I was in full-blown panic mode. I constantly checked the charge gauge — the fuel gauge for electric cars — in the dash, worrying if it dipped below a certain point or ditching the freeway to take side roads and save energy.
Driving an electric car forced me to think of a car as utilitarian. It became a tool to get me from point A to point B. The energy consumption was tangible. At the same time, I realized its limitations. You can’t throw caution to the wind, jump in and take off for the coast.
In terms of long-distance driving, “it’s not made for that,” said Hank Palmer, who uses his LEAF to commute from his home in Kenmore to work in Marysville.
The main reason for that is the fact freeway driving is a huge drain on the battery. I found that taking side roads or even being stuck in traffic took far less energy than driving 60-plus mph on the freeway.
Lifestyle car
Both Palmer and Ron Wheeler, a firefighter with the Seattle Fire Department, use their LEAFs for commuting and little else. They charge it at home, drive it to work, charge it at work and then drive home. It fits their lifestyle.
The LEAF didn’t fit mine. I drive 50 miles roundtrip to work each day, which would seem to fit a LEAF (the top charging range of a LEAF is 100 miles). The problem is I can’t charge it at work and I frequently need to drive to interviews during work hours, which is a problem. LEAF owners need their driving to be predictable.
Because freeway driving can be unpredictable and quick charging infrastructure is not built up, long commutes are a problem. Wheeler, who lives in Mount Vernon, said most of the time he can easily make it to work on one charge. But there have been a few times a strong head wind or a lot of water on the freeway has forced him to get off the freeway in Edmonds and drive to a fast charger for a quick boost.
“The range issue for me is the only problem with the car,” Wheeler said.
That brings us to charging. Both Palmer and Wheeler had 220-volt charging stations installed in their homes for approximately $200, which means they can bring their LEAFs to a full charge in just a few hours. I plugged mine into a conventional socket and it took 15 hours to charge the car up to 85 miles, not even a full charge.
I also charged my car at a number of 220-volt charging stations, which were faster, averaging 60 miles of charge in a little over two hours. According to Wheeler, DC fast chargers, which promise a full charge in 15 minutes, are the way to go. There are four fast chargers in Snohomish County (Magic Nissan in Everett, Campbell Nelson in Edmonds, Sky Valley Chamber of Commerce in Sultan and the Sky Deli and Liquor in Skykomish) and another planned at the Seattle Premium Outlets in Marysville.
Throw in the fact that electric car owners sometimes have to wait for others to finish charging and it’s hard to beat the convenience of a gas-station fill-up.
Very cost effective
When I asked Wheeler if he’d put any money into maintenance of his LEAF, he paused and had to think.
“I bought some Rain-X once,” Wheeler finally said.
Besides environmental issues, one of the biggest draws of an electric car is financial. Instead of filling your gas tank for $40 to $50 every week, you can charge your car for close to a dollar per day. LEAF owners don’t have to worry about oil changes and engine problems. The only thing to change on the car is tires. Throw in all the government incentives to buy an electric car and they can be quite cheap to own.
“I’ve saved thousands of dollars,” said Wheeler, who added that he’s planning to install solar panels at his home to help further cut energy costs.
The charging stations are the most costly part of owning an electric car. The AeroVironment DC fast charger at The Outlet Shoppes in Burlington is $7.50 for a fill-up or $20 for a month of unlimited fill-ups. The regular charging stations I used like Blink and ChargePoint averaged $1 for every 25 miles of charge.
Car of the future
Driving the LEAF can seem like flying a spaceship. The car powers up quietly, with lights and voices slowly buzzing to life, and then glides forward with no gear-changing hiccups.
Those features coupled with the fact that it’s electric are not the only things that make it feel like driving a futuristic car. There’s the inter-connectedness of its owners. LEAF owners have websites that map and discuss charging stations, discussion threads of people giving tips and advice to fellow LEAF owners, and apps that will map routes to public charging stations in real time. Some home chargers are registered as public chargers for fellow LEAF owners to use.
The LEAF is like the Model-T of electric cars, and the state of Washington hopes it, and other electric cars, succeed. This past February, the state put forth an Electric Vehicle Action Plan that includes the goal of 50,000 electric vehicles in the state by 2020 (there are currently 10,000).
The biggest obstacle to that goal is infrastructure. As part of the West Coast Electric Highway, the state wants to increase the number of public charging stations — there are currently 450 public charging stations in Washington — and signage for those stations.
For me that would help. If I could rely on a number of DC fast charging stations between work and home, or a charger at work, I’d definitely consider buying an electric car. Until then, I’ll have to go back to my gas-guzzling truck.
There’s still something to be said for saving money by saving time.
Aaron Swaney: 425-339-3430; aswaney@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @swaney_aaron79.
Nissan LEAF
The sticker price of a new LEAF ranges from $21,000 to $27,000, which doesn’t include government incentives. There are also many options for leasing a LEAF, which was recommended to me by a few LEAF owners. For more on the Nissan LEAF, visit www.nissanusa.com.
For more on charging stations, visit www.plugshare.com
For more on the Washington state’s Electric Vehicle Action Plan, visit www.wsdot.wa.gov
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