Archive for August 13th, 2011

Leaf, the electric car

Saturday, August 13th, 2011

Living in an area where having a car is a must, and with a baby on its way, we decided to explore the car market once more. There are quite some advantages in having an electric car in Norway, specifically when using it for commuting to work; you don’t pay toll, there is free charging at work and you can use the bus/taxi lanes to avoid traffic jams.

I did the calculations and I can lease or finance an electric car for roughly the same amount as what I am paying monthly for my commute…in other words, have two cars for the cost of one, a no-brainer! (a pure economical decision, and not so much an environmental choice: one should realize that electric cars are not that much ‘greener’ than gasoline cars…electricity is not ‘free’ either, eh?)

The challenge so far has been that there were no models that I would consider driving (except for the Tesla Roadster 😉 ), until I saw the Nissan Leaf…finally an electric car that does not look like a dinky-toy! 😉

And it comes packed with options: heated seats and steering wheel, navigation, rear-view camera and there is an iPhone App available that provides you with all sorts of status info on the car and batteries…nice!

We can test drive it in September and if that lives up to expectations, we’ll most likely buy it…first deliveries are in November, just in time to enjoy it in Norwegian winter time! 😉