Olivier Chalouhi was the first person in the US to purchase a Nissan Leaf, which arrived in December 2010. Here's a quick report of his first 6 months experience of driving an EV.
Chaloui drives the car daily on his commute – 40 miles roundtrip – to his job at a tech startup. Nissan says the Leaf’s battery range is 62-138 miles, depending on driving conditions. Chalouhi finds his range depends on his speed – just as speed affects gas mileage in a hybrid or conventional car. When he cruises at 55 mph, the battery can last 100 miles, but when he speeds up to 65 mph, the range drops to 80 miles.
Though he usually uses the Leaf as a commute car, Chaloui has started using it for local day trips with his family on the weekends. With his electricity rates at 12 cents an hour, he has spent about $85 to fuel the car in the last two months. He says it takes about four hours to charge the car’s battery at the end of each day.
Now that he has driven the Leaf for six months, he has nothing but positive things to say about the driving experience. In fact, he says it’s the best car he has ever had.
The car accelerates much more quickly than conventional cars, he says; at about 40 mph, it slows down to accelerate like a typical gas-powered car. He finds he can easily rev the car up to 80 mph on the highway and says you might find yourself driving the car too fast because it’s quieter than a gas car.
“It’s great going up hills. I leave most gas cars behind,” he says.
Chalouhi also loves the Leaf’s cool, “techie” features: connecting his phone and iPod to the car’s Bluetooth and sending directions directly from Google Maps to the car’s console. He finds that his family of four – with the fifth on the way – fits comfortably in the Leaf. During recent trips to IKEA when the family moved, he discovered the car also has plenty of space for lugging larger items like small pieces of furniture.
His advice to people considering the Leaf for their next car purchase? He highly recommends the Leaf if its battery range works with their driving habits, he says.
“I couldn’t go back to a gas car now,” he says.
And this is how the EV market will build. Slowly at first, as one EV owner after another tells their story.
