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So I took the plunge this week and bought myself an electric car. It's a 2016 Nissan Leaf SL, a year old with only 3000 miles on it. It is in perfect condition. It's packed with just about every accessory/upgrade Nissan offers, and I got it for a terrific price. And it's in the extremely rare and hard to find color I wanted, which is a beautiful dark blue.
I am SO excited. My brother is driving me down tomorrow to pick it up. I'm having the home charging station installed on Monday. There's just something about the idea of plugging in my car and charging it like a cell phone that appeals to the geek in me.
SRP offers special pricing plans for electric car owners that will make charging the vehicle overnight dirt cheap. In fact they say that using the new price plan could potentially reduce my electric bill lower than it was previously, even with the additional electric use for car charging.
And there are all of the alternative fuel vehicle perks. Full access to the HOV lane and carpool parking spaces. My monthly parking fee at work will drop to just $5 a month instead of $40. No more visits to the gas station, no more oil changes. The car is practically zero maintenance.
I had some vague expectations of what driving an electric vehicle might be like before I started test driving different ones, most of which were negative. I was afraid the cars would be too small, or too fragile, or too slow without any real power to them. But the Leaf has a 5 star safety rating, has more legroom in the back seat than my current car does, and when I took it on the freeway I honestly think it has more get up and go than my current car, too. There is a setting called "eco mode" that conserves power which does make the car feel a bit sluggish by comparison, but without it engaged I really couldn't tell the difference between the electric car and a gas-powered one while I was driving it. Plus it's so smooth and quiet, even at higher freeway speeds.
I am super excited about bringing it home. I don't think I'll be sleeping at all tonight from the anticipation. ^_^
I am SO excited. My brother is driving me down tomorrow to pick it up. I'm having the home charging station installed on Monday. There's just something about the idea of plugging in my car and charging it like a cell phone that appeals to the geek in me.
SRP offers special pricing plans for electric car owners that will make charging the vehicle overnight dirt cheap. In fact they say that using the new price plan could potentially reduce my electric bill lower than it was previously, even with the additional electric use for car charging.
And there are all of the alternative fuel vehicle perks. Full access to the HOV lane and carpool parking spaces. My monthly parking fee at work will drop to just $5 a month instead of $40. No more visits to the gas station, no more oil changes. The car is practically zero maintenance.
I had some vague expectations of what driving an electric vehicle might be like before I started test driving different ones, most of which were negative. I was afraid the cars would be too small, or too fragile, or too slow without any real power to them. But the Leaf has a 5 star safety rating, has more legroom in the back seat than my current car does, and when I took it on the freeway I honestly think it has more get up and go than my current car, too. There is a setting called "eco mode" that conserves power which does make the car feel a bit sluggish by comparison, but without it engaged I really couldn't tell the difference between the electric car and a gas-powered one while I was driving it. Plus it's so smooth and quiet, even at higher freeway speeds.
I am super excited about bringing it home. I don't think I'll be sleeping at all tonight from the anticipation. ^_^
excited