Nissan Leaf - The Age of the Electric Car is Here.

[Carbon_Dude]

I"m not a tree hugger, but as a Mechanical Engineer I think the car is extremely interesting.  A friend at work bought one and since what we do at work is design batteries and chargers, everyone is looking at it.  Currently GA offers a $5,000 rebate on top of the $7,500 rebate from the Federal Govt.  He leased his Leaf for 24 months @ $360/month, no money down, 12,000 mi/yr..  The leasing company gets the $7,500 but he gets the $5,000 rebate.  So is cost would be $8,640 -$5000 = $3,650 or about $151/month.  He figures he'll save about $100/month not buying gas so the offset cost is $50 month.  Where can you find a new car for $50/month!!!

At the end of the lease he can turn it in and walk away.  Pretty fun to drive an electric car that cheap.

[Andy]

CD what do you mean by GA offers a rebate?  Do you means Georgia??  I'm due for a new car and this deal sounds awesome.  Do you know where I can find out more info about it?  Thank you.
Andy.

[Carbon_Dude]

Yes, if you are a Georgia resident, the State of GA will give you a $5,000 tax rebate on an electric vehicle.  If you purchase this year, you will get the rebate some time after next April when you file your taxes.  You can stop by any Nissan dealer for more info.  GA is not the only state offering additional rebates, if you are lucky enough to live in a state that adds to the Federal rebate, you can lease a Leaf on the cheap.

[Andy]

Looks like they are doing it in my state(Oklahoma)too.  I'll stop by the Nissan dealership and start crunching the numbers.  Thanks CD!
Andy.

[Sitar_Ned]

The leasing company gets the $7,500

Wait so do they deduct that from what they charge you, I assume?

[Carbon_Dude]

Since the leasing company is the one that owns the car, I assume that the rebate helps with the residual, giving you a cheaper lease payment.

[Carbon_Dude]

New update.  Another guy at work is leasing a base model Nissan Leaf "S" for $225, 24months, 12,000 miles, no money due at signing.

That's $5,400 in lease payments and GA has a dollar for dollar tax rebate of $5,000.  That means he will be able to drive the Nissan Leaf for $400 + insurance (about $60/month).  Thats a total of about $77/month to drive a new electric car.

Compare that to me paying $160/mo just in gas to drive my current 12 year old car to work and back, not including the cost of tires, brakes, and oil changes.

This is an insane deal.  I'd go lease one but I don't need another vehicle in my garage or blocking my driveway .

[Sitar_Ned]

Man.. That is an absolutely insane deal. Basically free. It seems they'd find a way to let more people know about these kind of deals, or maybe they don't want more to know - not sure.

Either way.. I'm about to hop on over to Google and hope that Arkansas pops up on the list.

[Sitar_Ned]

No such luck! Here's where to find out if you're state is participating or not. Literally takes 2 seconds.

http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/ev-incentives

[Carbon_Dude]

There are several states not offering any rebates, and others offering more than GA.  The Nissan dealer does not need to advertise, the cars are flying out of the showroom.  Thing is, in 2 years, there will be tons of Nissan Leafs coming in on trade, so I wonder if the used price will drop since there will be so many used ones at the dealerships.

[Chinertown Idiot]

moral of the thread is don't BUY a Nissan Leaf anytime soon, but if you live in a state that participates - then it's basically the best deal in the history of car leasing.

think I summed it up rather nicely there.

[Carbon_Dude]

We now have 3 people who leased a Nissan Leaf at  work.  Guess they are just leaving more gas for the rest of us .

[Chinertown Idiot]

What about self driving cars?

http://www.cnet.com/news/california-approves-self-driving-cars-in-2015/

We'll all be relaxing in our fully electric, self driving cars with our chiners on the back here soon.

[Carbon_Dude]

Interesting how many manufacturers are testing the technology.  I would bet for me the self driving car would be too slow and conservative in it's decision making.  Driving a sportscar all the time, I would have a difficult time adjusting to letting the car drive itself, I want to be in control of the vehicle.

[Sitar_Ned]

Well.. I could certainly see a day in the not so distant future (10-20 years) where self driving cars are standard and sports cars are a thing of the past. They were fun while they lasted, but we needed to save the environment and keep the roads safe!