People are often times skeptical when buying an electric car and rightfully so. Do the benefits of owning one outweigh the costs? It has been from my personal experience that there are some distinct advantages of driving an electric car. I own a blue 2011 Nissan Leaf and the results have been great. I have owned the car for over 2 months now and I have yet to have a problem with it.
The best benefit that I have found from owning this car is its ability to run without gasoline because it is 100 percent electric. This has saved me so much money these past months and I no longer have to worry about the long lines at gas stations anymore. The car solely relies on charging the battery. I usually spend around $60 or $70 on my electric bill which is relatively inexpensive. Another benefit of my car is its ability to seat my entire family. This is great for me because I am always taking my family to places. Before I had a truck I was having to take two vehicles for everybody to get to their desired destinations. My Nissan Leaf now allows me to take the whole family anywhere in just one vehicle. Whether I am taking my nephews to school or my sister to work, the car can comfortably seat them.
The best benefit from the car for me is its affordability. I am a recent college grad so money is tight because I have to pay off my student loans. The price allowed me to get a quality car that can fit my entire family. My car cost me around $34,000 which was pretty expensive, but I think it will pay off in the long run given that I no longer have to worry about paying for gas.
There are some disadvantages that I have found over the months. A lot of people, namely my friends, don’t like the shape and style of the car. I am inclined to agree with them because it does have that minivan appeal to it. Soccer moms are usually associated with this type of style and I often times do get a lot of flack for driving it. I think this is only a small price to pay because I am still saving money that my friends are not.
Another disadvantage that I didn’t think of when buying this car is it doesn’t really have a lot of cargo capacity. I had a lot of cargo space with my truck because I could simply tether anything down in the back of the bed. There really isn’t much space with my Nissan Leaf which is unfortunate because my family and I travel a lot. Sometimes we have to pack light in order to fit our luggage. Another disadvantage about my car is constantly making sure I don’t forget to charge it for the next day. Sometimes I have a busy schedule and I can be forgetful when it comes to things like this. Luckily I have yet to forget and have never run out of battery on my 30 mile commute to work. I have installed a 240v charger in my garage and it takes me roughly 3 hours to charge it. Other than charging time and little cargo space I have had a great experience with it so far.