My Recent Comments

• "The majority of chargers take five to six hours to fully energize a vehicle. But by the end of the year, a small number of commercial units will be in place to charge vehicles halfway in just 30 minutes. " First, allow me to correct these errors in the article. The average charge for EVs is only 1-11/2 hours. Very rarely will your battery pack be empty which would take about 4 hours to recharge on 240V to 80%. Most drivers rarely need to charge to 100%. And if using a QC Station or 440-480V it will charge your car to 80% (not 50%!) in about 15-30 mins. depending on the state of charge (SOC). Now to answer queenslaby: If you don't have PVs (solar cell panels) then it depends on your kW h rate, which at night usually averages around 7 cents/kW h. So just say you took it down to about 20% SOC left, and it takes about 3 hours to recharge to 80%. The LEAF charger (3.3kW) uses about 3.5kW hs from the 240V (L2) home charging station so that would be 10.5kW h X .07= $ .74 (less than $1!) How much do you think your gasoline will cost to drive 80 miles? Don't forget, it isn't just the electricity savings, but the LEAF also has MUCH less maintenance costs than an ICE (internal combustion engine) car. If I didn't have PVs on the roof of our home, our electric bill would have been only $9 more for AUG! The battery pack is warranted for 8 years/100K miles, but if cared for properly, will easily last at least ten years. By the time these will need replaced, there will be lighter, denser, and less expensive batteries to replace these. Depending on where you live and other factors, insurance doesn't cost any more than any other $35K (companies use the origianl MSRP) vehicle. Mine is $540/yr. with low deductibles and high liabilities. The QC (Quick Charge) stations will be available soon, and like I said earlier, it's only a 15-30 min. wait depending on your SOC % so we can use our EVs to travel much farther distances. The L2 or 240V home stations are usually used at night while you are sleeping. The charging stations are FREE now, and then later on a fee will be determined. It will still be MUCH less expensive than buying gasoline. Remember, these LEAFs are emissions free when we use renewable energy such as solar, wind, hydro, etc. Even when charging at night from coal plants when the electrical plants have excess electricity, BEVs are still 60% cleaner than ICE cars. And don't forget, when gasoline is made, it takes a LOT of energy to make it and coal plants are used.
  Sep 25, 2011
• al, we can precool or preheat the LEAF while charging so it doesn't use the battery pack. [beam] Also, the $7500 is a tax CREDIT, not a rebate as stated in the article. The feds are considering making it a rebate though, probably next fiscal year.
  Feb 26, 2011