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My husband had an old Honda Accord hatchback that got 40mpg, consistently. And it only cost $6500 when he bought it used in 1996 (it was an '89). Drove it for 12 years until he wrecked it. This is why I'm hesitant to put money into new technology for better fuel efficiency. I like the idea, but it doesn't seem like these cars get any better gas mileage than some of the traditionally built cars they just cost a ton more. Now if you told me they get 60-80mpg that would be worth it, imho.
Mine gets up that high in town sometimes. I have a Prius C.
If you run PHEV, they get what averages out to around 175+ mpg.
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Yes, but you have to do the math. I just did. :-) If you drive 12000 miles getting 15 mpg (that's what I get in my minivan) you spend about $2800/yr in gas. In the LEAF @99mpg, you would spend about $121/yr. in gas! That's a savings of about $2375/year!! In ten years you've almost paid for the entire cost of the car by what you've saved in gas. A Nissan or Honda will easily last 10 years or longer. With this level of technology, it's a good financial investment as well as environmental one.
According to a study conducted by the New York Times, most hybrids and electrics will take many years to pay back their higher upfront costs.
For the Nissan Leaf, they project savings of about $1100 a year (at $3.85 a gallon of gas) vs. a similar non electric model (Nissan Versa), yielding a payoff period of almost 9 years. An old clunker of a minivan that gets poor mileage is not a good basis for comparison of true cost savings from the electric/hybrid technologies.
According to a study conducted by the New York Times, most hybrids and electrics will take many years to pay back their higher upfront costs.
For the Nissan Leaf, they project savings of about $1100 a year (at $3.85 a gallon of gas) vs. a similar non electric model (Nissan Versa), yielding a payoff period of almost 9 years. An old clunker of a minivan that gets poor mileage is not a good basis for comparison of true cost savings from the electric/hybrid technologies.
Not sure I'm following — older 90s cars got better mileage and today's cars get worse mileage and cost more? Or are you saying diesel's get better mileage, but cost more? The small diesels are pretty competitively priced, plus there are a lot of used Mercs and VWs out there. The biodiesel costs more, but if I made my own it could cost less. I choose to pay more for the biodiesel because it makes me feel like I'm making some contribution in the right direction.
Not sure I'm following — older 90s cars got better mileage and today's cars get worse mileage and cost more? Or are you saying diesel's get better mileage, but cost more? The small diesels are pretty competitively priced, plus there are a lot of used Mercs and VWs out there. The biodiesel costs more, but if I made my own it could cost less. I choose to pay more for the biodiesel because it makes me feel like I'm making some contribution in the right direction.
Cars used to get better mileage (Honda CVCC, anyone?) because they pretty much had ZERO safety and emissions controls and were lighter weight.
I'm pretty sure a scooter gets better gas mileage than my Prius, but I don't plan to take it out on 40 at rush hour.
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I'm considering getting a Nissan LEAF (plugin electric vehicle). I was wondering if anyone here has one, and if so, if are you experiencing any battery capacity issues in the climate here? I've read they might have issues in very hot climates (Texas, Arizona) and I wonder how they hold up here.
Not sure I'm following older 90s cars got better mileage and today's cars get worse mileage and cost more? Or are you saying diesel's get better mileage, but cost more? The small diesels are pretty competitively priced, plus there are a lot of used Mercs and VWs out there. The biodiesel costs more, but if I made my own it could cost less. I choose to pay more for the biodiesel because it makes me feel like I'm making some contribution in the right direction.
What i meant is that diesel fuel costs more than 87 octane gasoline.
I can't speak to the climate issue, but I thought I would share that I have seen a number of Nissan Leaf vehicles driving around Raleigh lately. I even spotted one getting charged up at the North Raleigh Whole Foods a few weeks back. The Raleigh Connoisseur website has a great map showing the location of Electric Vehicle charging stations throughout Raleigh.
Nissan Leaf Charging at North Raleigh Whole Foods
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