To EV or not to EV, that is the question

davenlei

New member
So there is the possibility that a person in our household may take a job that is 45 miles from home one way.  Based on that, we are considering an EV or plug in hybrid for two purposes:

1) Lower cost of fuel (3 miles per KWh @ ~$0.16 KWh vs. $4.00 gal gas)
2) Green/White solo carpool sticker valid till 2019 <- Primary reason for looking at EV/PIH vs. fuel efficient normal car

Does anyone have experience with EV (or plug in hybrid) cars and what is your experience with them (both pro/con).

Second question, what was your experience with the tax incentives (Fed/State)?

Finally, did you buy or lease and why?

We are currently looking at two options:
1) Toyota Prius plug in
2) Nissan Leaf EV
3) Chevy Volt EV
4) ?
 
davenlei said:
So there is the possibility that a person in our household may take a job that is 45 miles from home one way.  Based on that, we are considering an EV or plug in hybrid for two purposes:

1) Lower cost of fuel (3 miles per KWh @ ~$0.16 KWh vs. $4.00 gal gas)
2) Green/White solo carpool sticker valid till 2019 <- Primary reason for looking at EV/PIH vs. fuel efficient normal car

Does anyone have experience with EV (or plug in hybrid) cars and what is your experience with them (both pro/con).

Second question, what was your experience with the tax incentives (Fed/State)?

Finally, did you buy or lease and why?

We are currently looking at two options:
1) Toyota Prius plug in
2) Nissan Leaf EV
3) Chevy Volt EV
4) ?

My analyst just bought a Chevy Volt because she commutes over 40+ to work.  She also considered the Volt because of the gas/electric combo over the leaf.  She also mentioned that the stickers were running out soon?

She paid like $24k after the rebate/incentives and got the car for $3k under invoice i believe.

 
if you are driving 45 miles each way, i would probably go with the volt. the leaf gives you 80-90 miles so good chance you wont make it home if you dont plug in at work. even if at the workplace there is a fast charger, there are typically only one or two, so if you dont get one of those spots you could be SOL. which is why the volt is more practical than the leaf in this situation.  if you were guaranteed a fast charging spot at work then i would go with the leaf. i forget the color sticker that that the volt gets and when it expires.

EDIT - at 50 weeks per year of 450 miles a week just for work you are at 22,500 miles, you may be better buying, not sure if they would lease you a car with that kind of mileage allowance, if they do though, you are better off pricing it into the lease vs paying the extra amount after the lease.
 
Homie said:
davenlei said:
So there is the possibility that a person in our household may take a job that is 45 miles from home one way.  Based on that, we are considering an EV or plug in hybrid for two purposes:

1) Lower cost of fuel (3 miles per KWh @ ~$0.16 KWh vs. $4.00 gal gas)
2) Green/White solo carpool sticker valid till 2019 <- Primary reason for looking at EV/PIH vs. fuel efficient normal car

Does anyone have experience with EV (or plug in hybrid) cars and what is your experience with them (both pro/con).

Second question, what was your experience with the tax incentives (Fed/State)?

Finally, did you buy or lease and why?

We are currently looking at two options:
1) Toyota Prius plug in
2) Nissan Leaf EV
3) Chevy Volt EV
4) ?

My analyst just bought a Chevy Volt because she commutes over 40+ to work.  She also considered the Volt because of the gas/electric combo over the leaf.  She also mentioned that the stickers were running out soon?

She paid like $24k after the rebate/incentives and got the car for $3k under invoice i believe.

That is true regarding the mileage.  One of the 'perks' to be requested before taking the job would be an assigned EV or 'plug in' parking spot to charge at work.

The volt is an option for a flexible solution just as the plug in Prius would be.  Would not mind going all electric if the parking thing works out.  Heard all the EV BMW's are sold out and back ordered so that is out.
 
qwerty said:
if you are driving 45 miles each way, i would probably go with the volt. the leaf gives you 80-90 miles so good chance you wont make it home if you dont plug in at work. even if at the workplace there is a fast charger, there are typically only one or two, so if you dont get one of those spots you could be SOL. which is why the volt is more practical than the leaf in this situation.  if you were guaranteed a fast charging spot at work then i would go with the leaf. i forget the color sticker that that the volt gets and when it expires.

EDIT - at 50 weeks per year of 450 miles a week just for work you are at 22,500 miles, you may be better buying, not sure if they would lease you a car with that kind of mileage allowance, if they do though, you are better off pricing it into the lease vs paying the extra amount after the lease.

I worked the numbers for mileage overage against the LEAF's lease promotion and the numbers still work out as an advantage if we don't plan on keeping the car long term.  I am also seriously looking into getting a used (1-2 year old) EV/HPI car since I don't like to buy new and the stickers stay with the car (VIN).  Since I read the green and white carpool sticker useability was extended to 2019, it sounds like a potential option.  Getting a clean 2012-2013 Volt for ~$17K with less than 10K miles on it seems like an option.
 
Go with the Plug-in Prius.  The electric charge is good for 12-14 miles but on gas the car gets around 50mpg on regular gas (car has a 10-gallon tank).  Toyota also has a 2-year/25k mile free maintenance program. 
 
I have a Prius Plug-in... solid car. Full charge takes a little over 2hrs on standard 120v. At SCE Tier I rates, that's about .50cents per charge. I avg about 10-12 miles per charge which results in a tank avg of 63mpg -- basically 500 miles per 8 gallons. At $4 a gallon, the cost to drive 10miles would be about .80cents... charging is marginally better -- not a huge advantage. The true benefit, of course, are the carpool stickers.

I was commuting from LB to Irvine, the stickers saved about an hour of total driving time, but in some instances up to 2hrs. I've actually moved closer to Irvine so I'm now looking to sell the car. There are about 4k green stickers left and are expected to run-out by this summer.
 
I have a Nissan Leaf and have really enjoyed it.  If you can charge at work, the Leaf may be an option to consider.  If you can't charge at work, then the Leaf shouldn't be an option; a 90 mile RT commute is not practical in a Leaf.

I leased mainly because these technologies are changing so quickly.  When leasing, the price reflected the $7500 tax credit so I didn't have to handle that on my own taxes.  If you purchase, you would claim the $7500 tax credit when you file your taxes if you are eligible.

For the Leaf, the state currently offers a $2500 rebate.  Filing for it was straightforward and the check arrived about 8 weeks after submitting the required paperwork.  Here is the link to see what rebates are available for particular vehicles:http://energycenter.org/clean-vehicle-rebate-project
 
zovall said:
I have a Nissan Leaf and have really enjoyed it.  If you can charge at work, the Leaf may be an option to consider.  If you can't charge at work, then the Leaf shouldn't be an option; a 90 mile RT commute is not practical in a Leaf.

I leased mainly because these technologies are changing so quickly.  When leasing, the price reflected the $7500 tax credit so I didn't have to handle that on my own taxes.  If you purchase, you would claim the $7500 tax credit when you file your taxes if you are eligible.

For the Leaf, the state currently offers a $2500 rebate.  Filing for it was straightforward and the check arrived about 8 weeks after submitting the required paperwork.  Here is the link to see what rebates are available for particular vehicles:http://energycenter.org/clean-vehicle-rebate-project

Zovall - you got the rebate even though you were leasing correct?  my wife got a new gig with a longer commute, she is going to try out the drive for a month and then will see if she gets a an EV, likely a leaf, roundtrip is 60/day and they have level 2 chargers at the new gig.
 
Optimus(sub)Prime said:
I have a Prius Plug-in... solid car. Full charge takes a little over 2hrs on standard 120v. At SCE Tier I rates, that's about .50cents per charge. I avg about 10-12 miles per charge which results in a tank avg of 63mpg -- basically 500 miles per 8 gallons. At $4 a gallon, the cost to drive 10miles would be about .80cents... charging is marginally better -- not a huge advantage. The true benefit, of course, are the carpool stickers.

+1.  I have a plug-in and share the exact same views.  I don't even bother charging my car anymore since I'm never at Tier 1 rates.

Another benefit that no one mentioned is that the carpool sticker actually gets you free access on some of the Toll roads.  You still need a transponder, but you can select the "3" person switch on it and drive through some toll roads without paying.
 
This is a lot of really good info for people thinking about taking the jump to PIH or EV. 

I seem to be leaning toward the Prius PIH due to the range with the gas engine.

For those on EV, have you noticed a large decline in range over time with battery degradation?
 
Back
Top