Yes, however:
Buying a Leaf S outright would cost $28,350 before local or federal tax incentives,
Incentives (aka, rebates) will end for electric vehicles at some point, when all monies are claimed. As prices are artificially skewed in favor of electrics, price can't really be used as a comparison. Compare using MSRP. You can go and buy an 2022 Impreza for about $18900 right now, and you're probably going to get 200-300k out of the car with a little bit of care.
the base trim, S, whose 40-kilowatt-hour battery can propel it 149 miles
That kind of car is targeted towards a city driver. A car like that is totally useless in a rural area where you may not even have a way to charge except by plugging in to a home electrical system sans special charger. And if your charging cable breaks, you're out of luck until you buy another one. When I lived in the middle of nowhere, it wasn't uncommon to put 150 miles on a car in a day, especially if you had to drive anywhere other than the local stop-n-rob in the town 20 miles away.
the automaker estimates the battery will last at least 10. (https://www.motorbiscuit.com/how-many-miles-will-a-2021-nissan-leaf-last/)
Modern cars, with a little bit of care, can last 15 or more years. To keep your electric for that same amount of time, you're going to be spending quite a bit of money:
The 30 kWh pack prices range from $3,500 to $4,500, while 40 kWh packs vary from $6,500 to $7,500. That’s the highest price difference in these replacements. Getting a 62 kWh battery pack demands $8,500 up to $9,500. (https://bellinghamautoacservice.com/faq/how-much-does-a-nissan-leaf-battery-cost-to-replace/)
Assuming you keep this car for as long as I've kept my gasoline cars (the longest was 17 years old) then you're probably going to be replacing the battery pack at least once, maybe twice depending on how often you deplete it. That eats any advantage you have right there, and there's no guarantees you're even going to be able to get said pack in 10 years, or replace it without substantial retrofit. If you're the kind of person that can't bear to keep a car more than 3 years, then you're already losing money left and right.
Electrics are great for a particular type of person, the kind that doesn't keep a car (and doesn't mind spending bucks to lease forever,) doesn't drive much, and doesn't want to think about maintenance. For the rest of us, that simply doesn't work.
Incentives (aka, rebates) will end for electric vehicles at some point, when all monies are claimed. As prices are artificially skewed in favor of electrics, price can't really be used as a comparison. Compare using MSRP.
That is MSRP. After incentives it's under $20,000.
Modern cars, with a little bit of care, can last 15 or more years. To keep your electric for that same amount of time, you're going to be spending quite a bit of mone
I have one that's 12 years old with 157,000 miles on it. No trouble yet.
Assuming you keep this car for as long as I've kept my gasoline cars (the longest was 17 years old) then you're probably going to be replacing the battery pack at least once, maybe twice depending on how often you deplete it.
The battery warranties are 150,000 miles or 10 years.
That is MSRP. After incentives it's under $20,000.
Yes, I said incentives are just that. Artificial skewing of price. There's no guarantee that will be here tomorrow. Compare MSRP to MSRP, not MSRP to fake price.
I have one that's 12 years old with 157,000 miles on it. No trouble yet.
And my current gasoline vehicle if 14 with 220,000 on it. No trouble yet. (it does get all of it's scheduled maintenance, I hate sloppy suspension.) I've known plenty of these vehicles that went for 300k or more, and the only reason that they stopped driving them was because the mechanical structure of the vehicle simply wore out. I have a list of people that want mine because it's a manual transmission, so I'm not worried about what to do with it when it does decide to go.
My last one was 20 when it shit the bed, the only reason I got rid of it was someone hit it and destroyed the B-pillar area.
The battery warranties are 150,000 miles or 10 years.
Which is why I stated that modern (gasoline) cars can last 15 or more years. I see plenty on the road that are 20, and a decent amount still from the 90s. At some point, if you want to keep your electric on the road for that long, you're going to be spending several thousand on a battery pack. Yours has degraded, and is on borrowed time at 157k. Cells like to just quit without warning, it's how batteries work.
The point here is that electrics are a crap deal for many drivers, and both the cost without incentives and the range is going to have to change dramatically before they can become a viable alternative for anything other than a short commuter verhicle.
Yes, I said incentives are just that. Artificial skewing of price. There's no guarantee that will be here tomorrow. Compare MSRP to MSRP, not MSRP to fake price.
What part of THAT IS MSRP is difficult to understand?
Which is why I stated that modern (gasoline) cars can last 15 or more years.
If you're going to judge how long a car lasts by the warranty, how long is the warranty on your gas car? Most people are getting 300k or more miles out of their Tesla and Prius batteries with no issues. But even if you had to replace the battery every 150,000 miles, it's still cheaper than gas. A $10,000 battery replacement puts fuel and battery cost at 10 cents per mile, which is still the equivalent cost of a gas car getting 32 mpg.
The point here is that electrics are a crap deal for many drivers,
For very, very few. In fact, the only way it's a crap deal is if you need to drive more than 500 miles in 8 hours or less on a regular basis.
(post is archived)