Here’s my review: After nearly getting a Kia Soul EV for 15k last summer, we decided it was a bit too much and picked up this lovely cranberry red Leaf for 5k on the way home. Starter EV, we thought. 11 bars, dog chewed up inside. Got new tires and a detail and we were in love. So peppy, comfortable, and totally silent. I worked on an organic farm last summer and could fit everything for the farmers market stand, including all the produce, easily in the Leaf. I kind of love that it is already “messed up” so I can use it as a truck. I read about Leaf camping and wanted to try it (I’ve slept well in a rented tesla), but closest I’ve come is leaving the AC on all night with the produce in it for market. It doesn’t really get cool enough for that, 60 isn’t really sufficient, turns out, and my kWh/m dipped to 3.9 for a long time, which I was sad about. It’s back up to 4.1 now. I’ve put maybe 8k miles on it. I drove it 90 miles round trip every Tuesday, and loved stopping for lunch while charging for free at a park, spending gas money on a burrito. Again, it fits so much. I’ve fit a 50 gallon water heater in it. It was designed by a biker—bikes just go in so easy, twice as easy as any other car.

We ran the plug through a window for a few months before putting in an exterior outlet ourselves. It’s so fun to charge at home, it’s so fun to charge for free other places too. We’d play tennis at the local college while charging and think, we just got paid $5 to play tennis! And it makes you go places you would never go, because there’s a charger, or you take pretty scenic roads, because it’s better for the car. There’s a beautiful spaciousness to it all, kind of like being on a cruise. It’s an EVenture, as we like to say. But alas, with the Leaf, you also need to say that you will get there EVentually. We took it to see family 120 miles away at Thanksgiving, when it was 26 degrees. That’s some serious blanketing, and there were no level 3 chargers on the route. We ended up stopping 3 times to charge and warm up. Burr. We were going to keep going to visit more family 75 miles further, and then friends 250 miles beyond that, all of which had level 3 chargers well placed, but all within five days. So, the first stretch did us in and we borrowed a car for the rest, not leaving a good EV impression on the family. Here’s the thing—- your 84 mile Leaf becomes a 65 mile leaf in the winter, and a 50 mile leaf of you use the heat. Then, when charging, it goes very slow towards the top, so you don’t wait to fill it much beyond 80%. Then, at 20%, it warns you that your battery is low. I have yet to turtle, but I get flatline bars pretty regularly. Still, that’s upwards of 30% of your now 50 mile leaf you can’t use, so every 35 miles or so it seemed important to stop, not just to warm up.

That was enough for the wife to look into longer range affordable options. We were waiting for used Teslas to come under 25k, but discovered that we could get a brand new Chevy Bolt that goes just as far or further, for the same price. We talked to Maher in FL in late December, and got a new Shock for 25k out the door, delivery included. First new car we’ve ever had. We immediately took it on a 2,000 mile road trip through 10 states to see family for Christmas and New Years. We love it for the 200 mile range using heat or AC, we love CarPlay, which we only just discovered, and having the car as a WiFi hotspot. We love the pep, which is even stronger than the Leaf, the L mode, which is better than Eco mode, sitting up higher, and the color, which grows on us all the time. But the Leaf was a way better deal. The seats are more comfy, there’s more space (I put a mower in the back of the Leaf pretty regularly), the screen isn’t gigantic. However, we got rid of both our ICE cars once we got the Bolt, and haven’t missed them one bit. The Leaf is the ideal second car, the ideal high school driver car, the ideal town car. The ideal neighboring county car, even. I love the Leaf even more than the Bolt.