Leaf

A couple of days ago a friend and I stopped to check out the new Nissan Leaf, the all electric car.  The first thing you notice are don't notice is that it looks just like any other car. 

Remember the Honda Insight? 









Well this car, while not beautiful, does not look odd.  It bears a very strong resemblance to the Nissan Versa.  In fact, it share the same, what the car manufacturers call, platform; the layout, brakes, etc.

So the salesman told us about the unusual way to order it.  It is done almost entirely on the computer.  You first pay a $500 deposit to get the ball rolling, then you hire a Nissan approved electrician to wire a charging station at your house.  Then Nissan starts to build your car.  The sales person told us that the price had recently risen from $34k to $37k because of demand.  (Leave it to car makers to make a buck; or three thousand bucks ) when they can.  Order time is about 9 months.
  
Details:  100 miles between charges, if you don't use A/C or heater.  Less if you do.  There is a reading on the dashboard that tells you how many miles are left on your battery.  A Leaf was recently driven from Gresham, Or up to Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood and back on one charge.  The battery was nearly used up going up the mountain, but the braking coming back down recharged it enough to get the car back to Gresham with "2 miles" left on the meter.  It would be the right car for a town car.  The batteries are going to get batter as time goes on.


  An Observation>>>>>>   Car dealers do not recognize the recession.  They continue to try to wring as much moned as they possibly can out of the individual.  The sales guy told us that a certain 2009 Civic on the lot had gone up (according to the book) $2500 in a month so they raised their asking price that much.  He said, My boss says there's an "A__ For Every Seat" so we will evidentially sell it.  HMMMM.............  No wonder I hate car dealers.