Thanks to information provided by Green Newton, we started to look at electric cars as a real option. We live in the suburbs and have had two kids become drivers. So while we probably could have gotten by with just one car, we’ve tended to have two friends of ours gave us a ride in their 2014 Nissan LEAF and showed us how they ran a standard 120 volt plug from their house to their car for charging.

We learned about dealer rebates as well as state and federal tax credits that took a roughly $35,000 leaf in 2016 down to about $22,000 along with a six year 0% interest loan. This is what really made it practical for us. We learned so much about electric cars from our salesperson and love the idea that there would be virtually no maintenance required, no oil changes, spark plugs, tuneups, or exhaust problems.

EV technology really is so much simpler and the power of even our little leaf was impressive and it’s so much fun to drive. We brought ours home in December 2016, just in time to capture all of that year’s rebates. I’d say the only downside of our leaf is that even when fully charged, it only gets about 120 miles of driving range and even less than that on the highway and in cold weather. It’s never been a practical car for longer trips, but it’s been great for us as a second car, especially for our teenage daughter to drive locally. Current versions in the Nissan Leaf are now rated for driving ranges greater than 250 miles.