Ready to go green? If you live in California, you’ll have a chance at the Nissan Leaf later this year. There’s been talk about reducing or eliminating our dependence on gasoline, but is the technology really there? Is it going to be practical?

The benefits are many. First, the Nissan Leaf produces zero emissions. None. That’s music to the ears of anyone who thinks it’s ridiculous to pollute the air we breathe to the point where we have a smog alert system. When the air is unhealthy to breathe, the Air Quality Management District issues a smog alert, advising people not to exercise outdoors. Recesses and sports practices are cancelled and kids spend time indoors instead. All because we can seem to break our addiction to gasoline powered engines. Imagine driving as much as you want without contributing one gram of pollutants to the problem. Imagine that zero emissions cars become the norm and gasoline powered engines go the way of the dinosaur. As an added green bonus, the Leaf will be almost fully recyclable at the end of its life, so it won’t end up in a landfill.

Now imagine skipping the gas station – permanently. Most electric cars, including the Chevy Volt, do use gasoline when the car runs out of electric power. Not so with the Leaf. This car runs on electricity only. You’ll never go to the gas station. You won’t know or care whether gas is more than $3 a gallon. This carries a risk, though, and it’s one of the main reasons that electric cars haven’t taken off before now. When the battery runs out of juice, you can’t switch over to gas. In the past, limited range has kept electric cars from being practical. Nissan has solved most of the problem – not perfectly for all situations, but certainly well enough for most consumers. The Leaf can go 100 miles on a charge. That’s more than enough for most people. The vast majority of drivers travel far less than 100 miles in a day. You would charge your car battery at night when electricity prices are lower anyway. So now you’re paying for electricity instead of gas, right? How cost effective is that? Well, at average electricity rates, charging the Nissan Leaf would cost under $3. That’s right – less than the price of one gallon of gasoline.

The challenge comes in on long drives. If you were driving from one state to another, you would need to charge your battery along the way. Nissan has added a navigation system that will show you charging stations along the way. A quick charge station can charge the Leaf’s battery will up to 80% in about half an hour. That’s practical for long trips. You can charge your car while you stop for a meal. It even makes sense for restaurants that cater to long-distance travelers to install quick charge stations – if there are enough Nissan Leafs on the road.

The other major obstacle to any alternate fuel vehicles has been price. New technology is expensive. In this case, Nissan has priced the Leaf at around $35,000 in the U.S. There is some speculation that Nissan is willing to lose money at the beginning in order to establish itself as the major player in the electric car market. Car buyers can claim a $7,500 tax credit, bringing the effective price down to $27,500. While not the cheapest car on the market, this brings the price in line with Honda’s CR-V and Toyota’s Prius. Leaf owners will need to install a home charging station, which will cost about $2,200, but they’re eligible for a tax credit for 50% of that cost.

There are still challenges to alternative fuel vehicles, but I think Nissan has solved enough of them to make the Leaf a practical car for most drivers.

Author Bio: Written by Hannah Valez Nissan Riverside San Bernardino Nissan Dealer Atlanta Honda

Category: Automotive
Keywords: electric cars, nissan leaf, hybrid cars, zero emissions cars