New (to me) Car!

I might have posted this under "politics" since I wouldn't have done it had Harris not replaced Biden. In the face of literal Armageddon, one doesn't buy a new (ish) auto, right?

But here I am! I will take delivery this week of a 2020 Nissan LEAF with just under 20,000 miles and no history of accidents. This is the first time I've ever bought a car online and it's going pretty smoothly so far. My first EV and 'tis said most folks never go back.

So now I'm learning all about changing stations and apps and trying to decide if I can drive to Albuquerque from here. Not without a charge along the way for sure but then I usually get gas along the way. There is a suitable DC fast charger about halfway and if things go to hell there is a goodly number of regular (slow) public changing points. Most are either free or very cheap to use.

All new, all exciting!

 

The dealer says it should get here (from Atlanta) by 5:00 this afternoon. I will register and title here on Monday and in the meantime practice my smugly virtuous expression.

I'm thinking of "H8TSLA" for my vanity plate. "MSKSUX" is a close second.

 

Okay, the carrier driver just called. I'm looking at 6:30. Sometimes I wonder if people from the East understand just how vast and empty the Intermountain West really is. Albuquerque is a bit more than halfway (freeway mileage) to the Colorado border from here. Albuquerque is also 225 miles away!

 

Probably not.

The LEAF arrived and it's lovely. Less than 20,000 miles on it, no accidents, very nice. Used E/Vs are fairly cheap right now. People are afraid of battery failure or degeneration. I get that. Nissan offers an 8 year/100,000 mile warranty that the battery will still charge to something like 80%. That warranty transfers. So I've got 4 years and 80,000 miles to go. I'm not very concerned. The car will probably outlast me.

 

It's a lot of fun to drive. The most amazing thing; it's silent. I also like the exceedingly short routine maintenance list. One page. The only things you actually have to do as opposed to inspections and repair as needed, is rotate the tires and replace the cabin air filter every now and then.

 

One thing...I don't know how "clean" my LEAF really is. I charge it off the grid after all. El Paso Electric buys nuclear and has active solar and wind programs, those are good things from a greenhouse gas standpoint, but they also burn a good bit of natural gas which emphatically isn't.

The Western Interconnection is gigantic, too. I can't truthfully say there's no coal in my mix.

Footnote: Trans Pecos Texas is NOT part of the deeply stupid Texas grid.

 

Oh, absolutely it's better. Mostly, though, it's fun!

 

I love driving the LEAF but I had an object lesson at the Home Despot parking lot this afternoon. A young couple was stowing the kids and their various purchases in their compact wagon in the next spot. I turned on the LEAF and waited for them to close their doors and get clear before I departed. After a moment, I realized that they had no idea I wanted to leave. No engine starting or revving! So I lowered a window and asked if they were clear of me. They apologized but really, they had nothing to apologize for! I noticed this morning when my beloved was backing the car out that it has a soft backing warning sound. I understand there's a similar front facing sound if you are moving forward slowly and the car detects a pedestrian but I haven't heard it yet.

That's the only really serious issue I have with the car, by the way...my beloved spouse wants to drive it everywhere!

 

Wow! Wow wow wow! Dodge is or will be offering a Brand New Muscle Car, the Dodge Charger Daytona. It's a battery EV that will probably outperform any gas guzzlers of the past including the new sister gasoline version.

Here's the "Wow!" part...Silence isn't part of the Muscle Car Legacy so Dodge is building in an artificial exhaust noise maker that will rumble and bark and howl at up to 120 dB!

Look, that part CAN'T be true. Someone somewhere is trolling me.

 

Ah jeeze. It's not a troll. The stupid thing is REAL. Dodge even includes start up and shut down sound sequences. If I had one of these things, I'd reprogram it to play "Baby Shark" or something instead.

It's ironic enough, though...the E/V Charger Daytona, if they did it right, will blow the doors off of ANY gas muscle car. Maximum torque at zero RPM.

 

Oh, much more annoying than that!

 

I miss my Mustang. In my 20s, I got it used from a pilot.
The great thing of living in Democracy, Where people can ride the car they like.
But indeed, the science shows the polution has consequences.
Electric cars, still debateble, as the polution created by manufacturing battreies, and production of electricity.

 

Update: Still love the car (when I can extract the keys from a gratifyingly excited spouse.) Well made, solid, well designed, fun to drive, reasonable range for my situation. El Paso and return easily doable. Excellent acceleration (if you turn off ECO) but it doesn't handle like a real sports car. Well, it wasn't intended to be a sports car. It's a serviceable family hatchback and does very well in that role.

One strange complaint...the driver's side outside door handle comprises two plastic parts. There's the actual handle with the button and all. Snapped over this is the "chrome" handle cover. This piece of plastic is held on by a screw and a sort of tab or clip molded into the plastic. Judging from the volume of posts on LEAF fora, this clip breaks off regularly causing the "chrome" cover to flop around annoyingly.

Nissan uses this handle across many years and many models so why haven't they fixed this little problem? You can't just buy a new cover; you must buy the whole assembly for $100! There are aftermarket replacements for half that but putting one in looks like a thorough PITA and who is to say the new one won't break the same way?

I decided I had nothing to lose so I followed the advice of another LEAF owner and smeared some epoxy here and there and snapped the cover into place. It seems pretty solid now, but word is, in time the epoxy will fail. We will see.

 

I saw a Leaf the other day with a bumper sticker that said "Powered by electric (i.e., coal)." I thought, "Not bad."

 

About 60% in Canada is hydroelectric, and over 90% in several provinces. "Hydro" is literally a synonym for on-grid electricity in Canadian English; "hydro bill" refers to a consumer's electric bill, not their water bill.