Responsible Cars, A Personal Journey Continues

Our family now has a better balance in our choice of “wheels.”  After 35 yrs. of paying twixt $800 & $2100 for used Hondas & a coupla Subys; keeping them for 2 yrs. or so (w/ almost no upkeep beyond brake pads & exhaust systems (northern VT salty winter roads)); then rinse & repeat; we’ve finally bitten the proverbial bullet & spent some real money on more environmentally responsible rides: a $7K ‘08 Prius (generation 3) a yr. ago, & a $12K ‘15 Leaf last Fall.

(Local deals here: https://www.greenenergytimes.net/2017/02/15/affordable-electric-cars/)

The ‘13 Leafs were coming off their 3-yr. leases this Fall & w/ the demand for such cars in this country being so low they were going for $7.5K - $11K w/ about 10-30K mi.  (There were several important improvements built into the ‘13s compared to the earlier models.)  But during our search we just happened to run across a ‘15 for a great deal & up-sold ourselves.

We live 2 mi. back into the woods on a gravel road & the Leaf takes us (me, the wife, my mid-90’s parents, our Great Pyrenees) everywhere w/in 30 mi. radius of our home on its battery, which we charge overnight off a regular house outlet.  (It will go farther in the summer & all these EVs vary in their mileage.)  That is almost all of our driving.  We use the Prius about once/week: when we need 2 cars or when we must go farther than we trust the full charge in the Leaf.  (We don’t bother w/ the muss & fuss of trying to use those charging stations; boy is that a boondoggle! -- don’t get me started….)

The Prius carries 400 bd.ft. of 8’ boards w/ the hatch closed.  It’ll carry 10’ pipe, tubing, etc. w/ the hatch closed, too.  It’s basically our truck.  We have a hitch on it for small trailer loads & our bike carrier.  I bought the quick clamp-on roof racks for carrying big stuff up top, but we make sure those are off when not needed because of the performance hit from their wind resistance.

We bought another 11 PV panels to help offset the Leaf’s appetite.  The immediate, direct cost (w/o considering pollution, etc.) of grid-based electricity for the Leaf still reduces our transportation costs to about half that of the Prius.  Both cars have a front wheel drive traction control system that really works, even on our steep, icy driveway.

Of course, these are the newest cars we’ve ever owned - by about 10yrs. - but notwithstanding the excitement of their recent vintage, we’re very happy w/ our choices, our experiences, & knowing that these wheels will last a lot more than 2 yrs.  License plates: EWHEELS & PRIOUS (a dig at us self-righteous, smug, sanctimonious Prius owners).