Why the Nissan Leaf is perfect for me

I guess until you understand a little about me, you won't understand why I'm so excited about this car. And why it's a perfect fit. First of all, I grew up reading Popular Science, where practically every other issue had an electric car on the cover in the 70's.

And when the gas crunch came in the mid-70's and everyone started dumping their Chevy Impalas for more gas effiencient imports (this is when the original Volkswagen Beetle really sold well). And later in the 80's even GM started to make smaller cars, but they got their asses handed to them by the Japanese with small, well-built, fuel-efficient cars.

I was always excited by the propect of an electric car, but they were always these odd-looking, boxy, small, pieces of garbage that didn't look like a regular car. And a lot of them were hamstrung by a 35mph speed limit and a 25 mile range.

Fortunately, battery technology and materials science has come a long way since the 70's. Now instead of lead-acid batteries, we have lithium-ion. And we can build lighter, stronger bodied cars with advanced composities.

So now here's the Leaf, what looks like a regular car (in that it looks like a Nissan Versa or a Honda Fit), and it has a useable range and top speed. You can take this on the highway. You can take this to work without looking weird. It should even allow me to get to my brother's place and back (barely).

I live in New Jersey, in a suburb that places me close enough to New York City to get there in about 45 minutes (I'm 10 miles away as the crow flies, but traffic being what it is...) Point is: I drive less than a 100 miles per day. I work in NJ (my job is about 20 miles from my house), I drive into NYC often to catch a movie with friends or other social activities, and I have relatives out on Long Island, about 50 miles from my house.

In short, about 90% of my day-to-day driving is under the 100 mile limit of the Leaf. And even in the case of visiting my brother, all I need to do is make sure I throw a long extension cord in the back, and charge the car up some while I'm attending my niece's birthday party. No problem.

The only time the Leaf wouldn't fit my lifestyle is when I'm taking a long trip to visit friends in Boston, or going to a far-off car show (I'm active in the "classic" Volkswagen scene). I have a Jetta already for things like that (and a VW Vanagon for hauling car parts). I also have various scooters and motorcycles.

I have my own house with a garage, and there's electricity in the garage, so charging a Leaf is as simple as plugging it in and going to sleep for the night while the car charges up, ready to go the next AM.

This is what Popular Science was talking about in the 70's. Why it took 40 years to happen however, is a mystery to me. Batteries driving an electric motor is something everyone who's ever owned a radio-controlled car can understand. And even before RC cars, there were wired-remote car toys that ran on batteries. This is something I can "hack", work with, find ways to charge on the go, fill up the back seat with batteries, have fun with, modify, and use every day because it's the car I wanted to have when I was kid.

And like I said, 90% of what I drive is under 100 miles per day. Now all Nissan has to do is actually make this a reality, by making it affordable and a car that actually lives up to it's claims.