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I drive a 2018 Nissan Leaf - a fully electric car, and I love it. My goal isn’t to sell you a Leaf (although all my examples will be based on the Leaf as that’s what I drive), or any other electric car. Instead this post is simply to explain why electric cars are part of the solution to climate change and share what it’s like to drive an electric car. I hope that when you need to purchase your next vehicle, you consider that it could be electric.
Why are Electric Cars Important?
Climate change is happening – and its impacts are dramatic as being witnessed this week in California’s deadliest wildfire. If you want a little background on greenhouse gases and climate change, read my below posts.
To stop continued climate change, we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Within the US, Transportation (cars, planes, trains, etc.) is the top source of greenhouse gas creation. Of this, cars and trucks in the country produce 20% of our greenhouse gases – that’s you and me and the choices we make. Which vehicle we purchase, how far we drive in a day in our car by ourselves, and how long we let the car engine idle (meaning we are generating emissions without even getting the benefit of moving). Think of the impact we could make if everyone in our country limited the amount of time we let our cars idle in the driveway to warm up to 5 minutes (or if we cleaned out our garages so our cars fit inside and we didn’t need to warm them up). Think of the impact we could make if everyone shared a ride to work and we cut the number of cars on the road in half. Think of the impact we could make if we demanded our new cars have fuel efficiencies of 50 miles per gallon. If you got 50 miles per gallon, think about how much money you would save driving your car. Think of the impact we could make if we all drove electric vehicles that didn’t rely on fossil fuels to operate.
Are Electric Cars Truly Zero Emission?
Electric cars do not produce any air pollution or release any greenhouse gases into the air while they operate. These cars do not have a gas tank, contain no oil, and do not have an exhaust pipe. But whether they are truly zero emissions (meaning they run completely without increasing the amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere) depends on how the electricity used to charge the car is generated. If the electricity source is wind or solar, then yes, these cars can run without any impact to the atmosphere. If the electricity source is coal or natural gas, then there is carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere in the process of charging, but not running, the car.
If you find yourself looking at electric cars, you’ll notice that the dealers quote an MPGe for the brand of car. This stands for Miles per Gallon Equivalent. This means if you take one gallon of fuel and convert it to electricity, this is how many miles can you travel. For example, the 2018 Nissan Leaf is quoted at an average of 112 MPGe, meaning it can travel 112 miles on the electricity generated by one gallon of fuel at a power plant. If your energy comes from a non-fossil fuel source, your MPGe is N/A (not applicable).
How Did An Electric Car End Up In My Garage?
Previously I drove a 2008 Honda Fit named Hope, and I loved her. She was a relatively inexpensive car, got great gas mileage (~35mpg), and even though it was a tiny car, the seats could fold in about every way possible and we fit everything inside her from a recliner to a crib and even a stove. My only complaint was how easily she would slip on the roads of a MN winter, but I think that made me more emotionally tied to this car because we made it through 10 winters and many near misses but never an accident. She was low maintenance and my husband was able to repair everything himself until this April, when her air conditioner broke. I made it a month driving through construction clogged roads in hot humid weather before I cracked and took her into the dealership. The compressor was broken. They would replace it for about $1500. I asked the repairman if he thought it would be worth it to fix. He smiled at me and said he hadn’t seen a Fit with that many miles on it yet. I was up to 197,000 miles. I appreciated that he didn’t push me into buying a new car but felt he was probably being honest. I didn’t go car shopping that day. I drove my car back home. I was a bit in denial and a bit in mourning.
I assumed that I would replace my car with the latest Honda Fit. I started researching prices, options, and reviews so I would be armed with questions before test driving my future car. The next day, as I was driving to work, I heard someone talking on the radio about how much he loved his electric car, how much the technology had changed, and that it was actually cheaper to buy an electric car compared with an internal combustion engine vehicle. I knew there were early converters out there driving electric cars and I hoped to have one someday, but I was shocked to hear him say that the cars were cheaper and that he thought the technology was far enough along already that the average person would be able to use these cars pretty much the same as internal combustion engine cars. His words were all it took for me to change my preconceived thoughts about electric cars – a 5 minute interview with someone that drove an electric car. I went home and started researching costs and user reviews and started talking with my husband about considering buying an electric car. That’s my goal with this post – that I can be the same for you as this person on the radio was for me.
I didn’t go out and buy an electric car the next day. But later in the week, I did venture out to the nearest Nissan dealership. I thought I’d start with the “experts” and have them teach me about the car; then I could do research on the topics I still had questions about rather than try to learn everything by myself from the Internet. I was approached by two sales members when I arrived at the Coon Rapids Nissan dealership. They asked what I was looking for and I told them I was curious about the Leaf and wanted to learn about the car and how it worked. They looked at me blankly, and finally one of them said something to the effective “that’s an electric car.” I was patient, I told them I knew that. I asked if there was someone I could talk to. They told me no, that they didn’t know anything about Nissan’s electric car. They didn’t sell them, didn’t service them and they didn’t think they would be in the future. Six months later, I just checked their website and they do sell them now at this dealership… So I went back home, confused why a company would have a well-liked electric car that they didn’t want to sell.
I did a bit more Internet searching and found that the Maplewood Nissan Dealership claimed to have Nissan Leafs for sale. We waited until the weekend when my husband could come with, and I called ahead to make sure they had a Leaf we could test drive and someone that we could ask questions from.
I used “experts” in quotes previously, because I would not call the salesmen at the dealerships experts. To their credit, they tried as best they could to answer our questions and when one didn’t know they’d ask someone else, and I think we talked to four people before we actually test drove the car. The reason they aren’t experts – none of them own or drive an electric car. All they have to go on are stories from people that they’ve sold them to.
The car drove exactly like an internal combustion car, except it’s silent (it has a beeping system when the car is at low speeds for pedestrians to be aware of the car) and it can accelerate incredibly fast – leaving nothing in its wake but pools of clean air. While we were in the car with the salesman, he joked that we would get free oil changes. I asked “why?” before realizing that there was no oil in the car. Under the hood, there are many differences…
We didn’t buy a car that day. We went home and crunched numbers to learn the cost difference, and it’s true, an electric car is cheaper than an internal combustion engine. Then I started talking to people (none of whom own electric cars) to see if they thought I was crazy. Several thought I was – that didn’t help. But now there was this seed inside my head that I could do this and be an early converter and help convince others they can make this scary decision too. By buying an electric car I would help support the building of an infrastructure for future electric car growth. I have a really tough time with regret, so I knew this was the car I was going to get. But terrified with this decision, I didn’t go back to the dealership until they called me at the end of the month, offering to take a thousand off the price of the car. That was the tipping point for my husband and me. We drove down that afternoon and bought our first electric car.
Is an Electric Car Cheaper than an Internal Combustion Engine?
My comparison car was a 2018 Honda Fit and I bought a 2018 Nissan Leaf. The costs are based off of these two cars. We bought an extended warranty (we would have done this with either car so it’s excluded in the costs) for 8 year, so I’m assuming we will be driving our EV for at least 8 years. Excluding the cost differences in maintenance (which will be more expensive for an internal combustion engine – see below), the electric car is initially more expensive through year 4, and in year 5 the electric vehicle cost becomes cheaper throughout the remainder of the vehicle’s life.
2018 Honda Fits are quoted at 29-33 MPG in the city and 36-40 MPG on the highway. I’ll give them the benefit of doubt and go with the max of 40 MPG in this calculation.
I drive about 20,000 miles in a year. The price of gas has gone down in the past week, but historically it has been pretty steady this year at $2.79/gallon.
20,000 miles / (40 miles per gallon) = 500 gallons of gas * ($2.79 /gallon) = 1,395
The cost to drive my Leaf: In 6 months, I’ve charged at public charging stations that were not free for a total of 3 times. Each charging session cost about $6. The majority of my charging is at work, which is free. I’ve also charged at the Nissan Dealerships and Hy-Vee which is also free. In the winter months, I’ve started charging my car a few hours at home twice a week as I get less mileage when it’s colder and the defrost and heat additionally consume more of my battery. This is a little hard to determine how much of our electric bill has gone up due to the car, but my husband and I think about $20/month.
Public charging - $6*6 (doubling the number of times I will likely need to charge with a cost as I’ve only drove the car for 6 months so far) = $36.
Charging at home = $20/month * 12 months = $240
What’s under the Hood of an Electric Car?
On the outside, an electric car looks nearly the same as an internal combustion engine except there is no exhaust pipe. Under the hood, there are several differences. When you look at a Nissan Leaf, you will see two batteries. The main Li-ion (Lithium ion) battery is what you charge when you plug the car in. This battery powers the motion of the car. There is also a second battery, that draws power from the larger battery. This smaller battery powers the non-motion parts of the car – radio, headlights, fan, heater, etc.
To power the car, the electricity in a Nissan Leaf is first converted from DC (direct current) coming from the battery into AC (alternating current) with a Traction Motor Inverter. There is some efficiency lost due to the conversion but having the electricity in AC allows the motor to provide better acceleration and the battery can be re-charged using regenerative braking. The electricity then flows to the Traction Motor which powers the car. Electricity flows back into the Li-ion battery from the Reduction Gear. When you lift up your foot from the accelerator pedal, the regenerative braking system slows down the car, and while doing so uses the motion of the wheels to recharge the Li-ion battery. However, if the Li-ion battery is already full, regenerative braking will not be used to prevent overloading the battery. Luckily, the car does all of this for you and you don’t need to think about it – you will continue to drive the same way as you did using your old internal combustion engine powered car. If you are curious, after you turn your car off, you can see how many miles were re-generated due to braking and your overall efficiency in an eco report. Or you can choose to just get out of the car without caring.
There are some things under the hood that should look familiar. There is still a reservoir for windshield washer fluid which you will need to remember to refill in the winter (although you will also need to keep a bottle in the garage to periodically wipe down the rest of your windows as you won’t be stopping at a gas station anymore to clean your windows – luckily Target sells squeegees that are the same ones used at the gas station). There is also brake fluid and engine coolant.
What Maintenance Does An Electric Vehicle Require?
When we left the dealership with our new Leaf the last thing the salesman told us was to remember to bring it back to have the tires rotated. My first thought was “what???” Tires get rotated as part of regular maintenance – you never bring your car in to get the tires rotated… This is the recommended Service and Maintenance for a 2018 Nissan Leaf:
7,500 Miles or 6 Months: Rotate tires
15,000 Miles or 12 Months: Rotate tires, Replace in-cabin microfilter
22,500 Miles or 18 Months: Rotate tires
30,000 Miles or 24 Months: Rotate tires, Replace in-cabin microfilter, Replace brake fluid
37,500 Miles or 30 Months: Rotate tires
45,000 Miles or 36 Months: Rotate tires, Replace in-cabin microfilter, Replace intelligent key battery
52,5000 Miles or 42 Months: Rotate tires
60,000 Miles or 48 Months: Rotate tires, Replace in-cabin microfilter, Replace brake fluid
… you get the pattern…
That’s it. It keeps going that way through the rest of my maintenance book. As I’m terrible bringing my car in - this maintenance plan makes me giggle - I can handle this!
First Impressions Of Owning An Electric Vehicle
To be a fair and balanced post, there are a lot of benefits as described above for owning an electric car. But there’s this real side too, of being an early converter without any kind of supporter person out there. Here were my first week driving experiences:
While driving the car home, I was so proud to be driving an electric car. Every time I get out of my car, which I named Muir, I am leaving the planet just as clean as it was when I got in it. I am still proud to drive this car! I drove to work the next day and tried unsuccessfully to get my car charged (we have 8 free charging ports at my company, but I had no idea how to unlock the charge station). I drove back home, and now felt in a bit of a panic as I needed to charge. We haven’t upgraded our garage to have a 240V, but there is a converter to plug it into a regular wall socket. But before I could plug it in, although I knew where the charging port was, I had no idea how to open it…. I felt stupid I hadn’t thought to ask how open the charging port at the dealership… For reference, look for this this symbol with the plug-in on the key and hold it down for a few seconds.
That problem resolved, I plugged in my car. It needed to charge enough for me to be able to get to work and back (in case I couldn’t figure out the charging at work again). The trickle charge is slow so I wasn’t sure if I would have time get enough charge and I went into freak out panic mode. WHAT DID I JUST SPEND ALL OF OUR MONEY ON???? What had I been thinking? What if I couldn’t make this work? Would my husband let me drive him to work and then I could take his car? And on and on went my thoughts. I never cried, but going through my mind over and over and over was WHAT DID I JUST DO??????
In the morning, I had enough charge to make it to work. And when I got there, my email had been answered, and I was able to get my account set up. While I was setting my account up, I learned that this card I have been given at the dealership (EVgo) was my new lifeline for charging. I found the card in my wallet (luckily I hadn’t had a chance to bury it too far yet in my purse). I had to put $25 into an account for the card to work. (When I am at a public place to charge, it takes money from this account. I’m assuming I’ll have to refill it at some point, but I haven’t used it all yet.) After getting this set up, I confidently went out to the parking lot and proudly re-parked in one of the non-coveted EV parking spaces in the very far back corner of the lot. I knew how to open the charging port, I had my card, and I followed the directions on the charging station (which include pictures for what to do). Low and behold, it worked, and by the end of the day, I had a text stating that my car had been fully charged. A lot of my anxiety resolved itself.
Later that week, I needed to drive down to see my parents in Rochester. This was about as far as I was ever planning to go by myself with this car until the EV infrastructure improves and more charging stations are added along interstates and highways. That said, I was still terrified to go on this trip the first time. Chris had offered that I could take his car, but you have to realize how very stubborn I am. I would rather have had to call AAA and have them tow me to Rochester if I didn’t make it than tell my husband I needed to take his old internal combustion engine car. So off I went from work on a fully charged car, and I made it Rochester comfortably. I now needed to find a charging station, which although I travel to Rochester frequently, I’ve never looked for before… So driving down highway 52, the first place I see coming into town is the Nissan dealership. Confident that they have charging stations there, that’s where I stop. They have two charging stations, but both were blocked by internal combustion engine cars (this is called being ICEd). I am not a person of confrontation and I hate having to ask for help. But I’ll need to charge my car if I intend to get back home, so I park my car and gather all my courage, to go ask someone to move one of the cars. On my way inside, a salesman comes out and asks how he can help. I explain I’ve just bought a Leaf and have driven it down from the cities, but I need to charge it to be able to drive it back and that there are cars in the spots next to the charging ports. He tells me to park in the No Parking space near one of them. It was the end of the day and said it wouldn’t matter. But then he tells me “I don’t know the code though.” Me: “What code?” Nissan Salesman: “The code to charge.” Me: “There’s no code needed to charge an electric car…” thinking inside my head I’ve only had this car for a week, but I’ve never needed a code to charge before, do I know more than the salesman??? Me, somewhat more confidently: “Do you sell Leaf’s here?” Nissan Salesman: “Yes.” Me: “But you don’t know how to charge them?” Nissan Salesman: “No.” Me, trying to help the Nissan Salesman sell future cars: “Do you want to learn? I can show you.” Nissan Salesman: “No thanks.” Me, thoroughly confused, and my confidence has risen on behalf of my children’s, children’s children who need us to convert now to electric cars to save the planet: “Do you plan on selling Leafs?” (or is it Leaves?) “Don’t you think people would want to know how to charge them?” Nissan Salesman: “Not that many people are interested in buying them.” And that was my second experience of Nissan not wanting to sell their awesome car. I still don’t understand. I wrote a letter to Nissan later that was never answered sharing my confusion with them. Regardless, I was able to charge my car. My parents came and picked me up at the dealership and dropped me back off later so I could drive home. (This will get easier when more charging stations around the city are built hopefully closer to my parent’s house so I can walk, but for now they are more than happy to pick me up.)
How Do You Charge an Electric Car?
There are 3 ways to charge an electric car. The most basic is referred to as “trickle charge” or Level 1. This means plugging your car into a basic wall socket. To do this, you need to buy a converter when you buy your car. Buy this – there will be a moment when you’ll need it. My car adds about 5 miles of range for every hour that it’s plugged in. For approximately a 150 mile range, it would take 30 hours to fully charge it. But I haven’t run into a scenario yet where I’ve needed to fully charge my car only using trickle charge. If I’m plugged in at home and set the car to charge for 8 hours, I add about 48 miles which is more than enough to get to work, where I can plug into a Level 2 charging station. This is a slow option, but it’s more than enough to get by as an EV owner.
The second and most common method of charging is referred to a “level 2”. This involves plugging your car into a 240V power source. You can install these in your garage, and likely there are several level 2 charging stations in the city you live in. A level 2 charging station takes about 7 hours to fully charge my Nissan Leaf. Which is perfect - while I’m at work, my car charges. When I’m done with work, I walk out to the parking lot and go home. If anything, it saves me time as I no longer have to stop at a gas station.
I would recommend downloading two apps to be able to search for available charging stations: ChargePoint and Greenlots. For stations marked with ChargePoint, just tap your EVgo card over the picture, and the charging cord will be released. (Note - I keep this card in a spot in the car where both my husband and I know where it is, rather than keeping it in my purse or his wallet.) If you are at a Greenlot charging station, open the Greenlot app, and either scan the Q code provided with your phone camera, or enter the charging station ID manually.
If you are travelling some place new, use both of these apps to search around for where charging stations are located. You can also check the status of the stations to determine if they are available for use or currently occupied by another vehicle. Unfortunately, the app can’t tell you if there is an internal combustion engine car parking there, not charging. Fossil fuel drivers - this is like me parking my car at the only gas station available for miles on an interstate. Please be aware that for us, this is not a parking spot - this is how we need to get home.
The last, and most convenient method for recharging when you are on the go is Quick Charging. A quick charge station adds about 80% of the battery in 30 minutes - woot! But not all Quick Charge Stations are created equal. There are Tesla Quick Charges and every other car Quick Charges. The Tesla stations don’t work for Nissan Leaf’s, the other ones don’t work for Tesla. Why they decided to build two kinds when we need to build an initial EV infrastructure from scratch is beyond me. When you look at the ChargePoint or Greenlot apps, a CHAdeMO or DC Fast means Quick Charge for a non-Telsa car. A SuperCharger station is for Tesla’s only. CHAdeMO stands for “CHArge de MOve” and in Japanese is “O cha demo ikaga desuka” translating “How about some tea?” Confused? Me too, honestly, a lot of the time... It’s a pun in Japanese that it takes about the same time to go get tea as to charge your car. I’m curious if they actually go get tea, as the quick charges I’ve stopped at have all been in the middle of nothing to do, and I’d love a nearby coffee shop - that’d be a great idea!
How Far Can You Get In a Nissan Leaf?
Mileage depends on several things. In the warmth of summer, when I’m driving with some traffic (meaning I’m periodically braking) on a relatively flat road, and I’m not running the fan or A/C, I can go 150 miles before needing to charge. Running the heat, defrost, or A/C reduces the mileage because power is taken from the main Li-ion battery and transferred to the secondary battery. Going up a hill takes more power, but when you go down the hill, you will regenerate some of what you lost. How fast you drive affects your mileage as well, especially over 65 mph. When the battery is cold, it draws power out more quickly as well. The computer inside the car seems to adjust for current conditions and gives a constant readout of the estimated miles remaining. Having the heat on though seems to draw the miles down even faster than what it estimates.
The best way I’ve found to improve mileage in the winter is to use the Climate Control feature. You can plug the car in, but set a timer to not charge the vehicle until just before you plan to leave. Then set the Climate Control timer on. I leave about 6:30 every morning, so I program my car to heat up to 73F by 6:30, and when I get in it, it’s nice and toasty warm. Then I can turn the heat off while I’m driving, and I stay pretty warm throughout most of my drive into work.
Questions I’ve had to look up:
Can you charge an electric car in the rain? The first time I needed to drive to work in the rain, I googled if I could drive an electric car in the rain. And then I looked up if I could charge it in the rain. It’s funny now, but there are lots of things you don’t think to ask while you are test driving the car. The answer to both questions is yes.
What will happen to my electric car in the winter? This is still a question that has yet to be determined by me personally. Thus far, my Leaf has been fine down to 6F. Unfortunately, in MN, it’s going to get quite a bit colder. But I wasn’t the first person in the state to by an EV, so I’m hopeful it will be as reliable as my past car. Some reviews I’ve read say they are more reliable as there is no fluid that can freeze. Other posts have talked about the Li-ion battery potentially getting too cold to work. I haven’t read a review though of an EV driver that suggests not to drive in the winter. I’ll update this post in January with a more definitive answer.
The charging port is locked… How do I get it unlocked? Two weeks ago, I went to unplug my car, and the cord was stuck. I pulled on it, hit all of the buttons on the key, and nothing. As I was searching the Internet for what to do, my car suddenly unlocked it. I have no idea why it unlocked it at that point. But I did figure out that I had accidentally turned the lock feature on. I switched this back to unlock and have no further problems.
Would I buy another Electric Car?
Absolutely! I panic when my charge gets low, I get frustrated when I can’t figure out how to make something work, and there are currently limitations on where I can drive in a certain amount of time. But I figure it out, and laugh along the way. I am proud of the clean air left behind my car as I drive my annual 20,000 miles.
Would I convert our second car to electric? Not yet. We frequently go on cross-country road trips, and there are times that we drive through the night to get to our destination more quickly. In order to do these trips, we would need quick charging stations along all interstates and several highways, and regular 240V charging stations at hotels, campgrounds, and state and national parks. But once the electrical infrastructure is in place, we will be the first in line to get an electric minivan.
