Ford comes through and breaks my 20 mile barrier...

(Thank goodness!)

It is one good looking family car! It will look down right mean in black or slate grey!

Yep! you plug it in as well!

As you all know I have officially decided that to be a true plug in Hybrid you have to travel more than 20 miles on electric only... now Ford was in a bit of a mess when it published EPA numbers in the 47 mpg range when no one... not even the EPA could even reach that number. Most hit the 40 mpg some came did come close to 44 (highway) (but they where most likely going down hill with the wind at their backs).

Personally I was very disappointed that Ford would play with these numbers just to bring in sales when the technology is actually there to able to hit 47mpg... and they can do so by tweaking a few things... Just look at the 2013 Nissan Leaf; Nissan was able to squeeze out a reported 10% more miles per charge. How did they do this? Aerodynamics and tweaking the regen breaks, throw in a bit of reprograming and ... 8 miles where added.
So I believe that Ford can hit the 47 mpg number they just got to make good and step up to the plate.

That said I am writing to report that Ford has come through announcing a 21 miles per charge range!
This is big cause I really like the Ford Fusion. It is a good looking car both outside and in. Has that Aston Martin grill up front and it fits 5! And when the electric juice runs out the Liquid juice takes over. I can really see this car as a fantastic commute family car. Drive it during the day to work and back, and on the weekends take the family up to the mountains or down to the swamps! One thing that I really like about his car is the top electric speed.... ready? 85 miles per hour before the engine kicks in! So if you are a highway commuter and for some off chance your drives takes you in the opposite direction to traffic you can cruise at 85 miles per hour on the highway to work!
And just think about this. If you do get pulled over make sure you tell the cop how excited you are that he just pulled over someone doing 85 on electric power alone... who knows he might just let you off with a warning!

The design works all around

Interior feels sporty and ford has done a great job with the material fit. Although it does still feel a bit plastic at times. I would love to see a bit more leather especially on the upper dash

Out of all the Hybrids out there I think this one is the best (yeah yeah you Volt fanatics calm down! I only say this cause the Volt only has four seats... add a fitfh seat and I am all yours). Now could they have made it better (as in longer electric only range)... Always! and there is the possibility when Ford sees how well the car is selling they might increase that range to 30 miles per charge or dare I say 40 miles per charge! Remember the average American drives 90% of the time under 40 miles per day. I am at around 95% with the Disney, Palm Beach and Naples trips making up the other 5%

Now price is $49,495 and you get the $3500 tax rebated from Uncle Sam which is nice! The volt on the other hand only has 4 seats (This will lead to the "Sorry honey your staying home today" male syndrome which will eventually lead to the "I don't think so and you are sleeping on the couch for the next week" female Syndrome) As for the other stable Hybrids out there the Toyota is still the cheapest at $32,000 (11 mile electric range, really Toyota? I expected more from you) and the Honda $39,000 (13 mile electric range, again kind off weak Honda) So the Fusion plug in falls in the upper middle pricing range and kicks Toyotas and Hondas tail pipes in electric range.

One thing I would wait for and I really hope Ford is paying attention to what GM has done with Leasing incentives, is that you might find yourself around the $270 per month with $3000 down. GM Leasing is at $269 per month with $2800 down. Without the GM incentives you would be looking at around $450 per month. So Ford has to follow these steps to have good sales. I think they will.

So where does all this leave good o'l me? Well, I still want the Tesla, but that ain't gonna happen any time soon. And even thought the Fusion plug in is now in my radar I am still on the path to go all electric by 2015. That plus with the new Leaf pricing it is a win win for the leaf (and mua).... but I will have to say this, I could live with the Fusion plug in, and better yet I think I could live with the Ford Fusion Plug in AND a Nissan leaf in my garage for three years... that is until the Tesla arrives!

As always... stay safe, don't text and drive... and go kick that gas habit, or at least put a hybrid patch on the arm....

Thank you Nissan!!!!

You know how to make me smile!

 Looking good in grey! I'm getting it in white (keeps car cooler in Miami...)

I believe these are the hubcaps that come on the Leaf S... I don't like them, do you?

Come onnnn March!

Well, seems that Nissan Leaf is here to stay! not only that it has found a perfect place to park... right between the VW, Mini, and Fiat... plus a whole bunch of other sub $25,000 cars! Wow I am soooo excited!

As you have read from my last post Nissan decided to do some minor tweaks to the Leaf. These tweaks are all over... from new paint colors to interior options. But the biggest tweak (if you want to call it that) is a lower price model.

This 'affordable' model gives you a really nice car (minus the bloody hubcaps! Man I hate those things.) but no worries, with the cash you save you can get yourself the Aluminum wheels of the SV (all it takes is a little sweet talking to the dealer...) But if you really want the LED lights plus leather then the SL might be up your alley. 

Okay! Enough with all this talk... are you ready!

Here are the numbers:

Base Level Nissan Leaf S: $28,800 minus the $7500 federal income tax credit so: $21,300 (OMG!)

Mid trim Nissan Leaf SV: $31,800 minus the $7500 federal income tax credit so: $24,300 

All the bells and whistles SL: $34,840 minus the $7500 federal income tax credit so: $27,340

For all the above add a $850 destination charge.

You can just scroll down to my last post to see what you get in the S, SV, and SL models.

But one of the best parts to all this ($21,300 I still can't believe it!) is that the car is built in the USA (Tennessee plant) and the battery is built in the USA (same plant different building ;-), And how about the electric motor? you guessed it! USA (Different Tennessee parts plant) So the jobs stay here and you know that by getting a Leaf you are helping hundreds of American workers!

But wait! there is more! How about Leasing? well for the base model its...

3 year lease and $199 per month! (Now I have not heard otherwise, so figure 3K down at signing) But still $199 per month! Awesome!

With these prices you can bet we will all see more Leafs out on the street... heck with these prices everyone looking to get a new lease should really look at the Nissan Leaf (Now it's a contender!)

So you ask when you can get one? Well stand in line behind me! Right now we are still looking at March so you only have two months left before you go electric and step into the future!!

As always, stay safe and don't text and drive... oh yeah, and go kick that gas habit... 

2013 Nissan Leaf update, welcome 6.6 charger!

 I like the color! Pictures courtesy of Nissan press kit

Looks the same? Supposedly drag went from .29 to .28

 Looks clean and classy in black! stays cleaner as well..

Here is the 2011/2012 dash slight mods. l kinda like the new black dash... classier?

 Great black color option (not so great in the Florida heat)

Here is the 'I am to lazy to look around before I drive' system. Okay I can see the benefit but if you drive this car for a long time then jump into a car that does not have it you might forget to look before you go. Just my opinion...

Now you don't have to use your cell phone to light up the charging port!

Well, fellow future Leaf owners we now have a good idea what to expect with the new model leaf. So here are the basics:
There will be three trim levels:

1. Leaf S
This will be your base trim level. LED lights will be replaced with projector beams (less expensive, and it will eat up more juice) It will also come with steel wheels and crappy plastic covers (Yeah you guessed it I hate hub caps)
No Nav computer (but who needs one with todays smart phones (insert iMaps joke here) and no remote connectivity so as you are lying in bed you can't turn on the A/C and cool off the car before heading off to work.
We do get the option of a rear view camera (smaller display) but really... after driving a Yukon if I need a rear view camera to park the Leaf I should hand over my drivers license!
And lastly the most important option; the 6.6 charger! Yippee!

2. Leaf SV
Here you get 16 inch alloy wheels plus the 6.6 charger, and offers LED lights and running lights as an option.

3. Leaf SL
You get yummy leather trim new 17 inch wheels and LED standard

Now for the SV and SL you can get the Premium (which means over priced) package options, which include a seven speaker energy efficient Bose audio system, and this nifty AroundView monitor system which personally I think is not necessary. Here is a money saving tip from Uncle Bob.... Turn your head around and look before you go... yep just saved you a bunch of cash!

The above is basic info. For 2013 model you can also expect:

Black upholstery option
Longer sunvisors (the old ones where useless)
Leather wrapped steering wheel
Blue tooth standard
Different battery state-of-charge display in % (I don't know how great this will be but it sure beats that bar they have now)
Charging port now has a light and can be locked
Better aerodynamics = better miles per charge
Two new colors Metallic Slate and Glacier White
And a new hybrid heater (what ever that means) but it does cut energy consumption. Not that I need it down here in Florida, but my readers in the North might want to look into this option.

Battery pack stays the same but energy management and regen breaking tweaks (a new 'B' switch for better regen breaking), plus aerodynamics will add a bit more range. Personally I would have liked a new battery pack with 30KW which would take you over the 100 miles per charge, but you can't have it all... No news on how many more miles but they are talking about a 10% increase or about 8 to 10 additional miles.

Now what I am excited about (it takes very little to excite me lately) is the 6.6 charger. What does this mean? If you run your battery down to 1% it will take 4 hours to charge it instead of 7 that the 3.3 chargers achieve. The big news here is that the percentage of you running the car to 1% charge is very,  very low. Most of the time you will be at around 50 to 60% depletion (40 miles per day average) So when you plug in at night you are looking at a 2 hour full charge for that middle of the night cookie dough run. Or if you are like me, I do the 40 miles during the day plug in when I get home at around 6 or 7 and if its Friday I know it will take us around 2 to 3 hours to get ready to go out for the night and I can be comfortable knowing that my Leaf will have a full charge.

Finally, as for which trim level I would get... good question since price has not been set. But from what you have read above I would like only three things, 6.6 charger, alloy wheels and Leather seats (I might be tempted to get the optional quick charge but I have yet to see a need for it).

Here is the link to Nissan's press kit.

That is it for now! I will update once I hear of pricing....
As always you can find the full article at Green car reports.

Be safe and don't text and drive...

Off to see Mickey!

My favorite place to go... it is just a magical and happy world!

Okay, we are off to Disney so I thought it would be a good time to log the trip. We will be leaving from south Miami and arriving at Downtown Disney Plaza Hotel (No its not the Plaza from New York chain) But a great hotel to stay at!

Now, I will try to post live updates but since I am driving they will only happen when the kids are screaming for me to stop to go pee or eat or buy Lotto tickets. We will be heading on the turnpike which I believe will be where Tesla will be building the Super charging stations.

I will also log in fuel. My giant truck gets around 330 miles per tank so it is perfect as a Tesla 85 KW test of fuel vs Electric! No really there is no test since the Tesla will always win in my heart!

Kids packed... car full... coffee down... dogs crying cause they want to go.... (sorry guys wish I could) ETD is set for 10 am (that is if the family can get its act together...)

94 Bucks! Ouch! As you can see I was running on fumes. Interesting note here:

This is about 8 days worth of fuel... OR a little more than 2 months running an electric car!

Now do you see why gas is eventually going the way of the Dodo bird?

See you all in a few!

Now to figure out if there is an upload app for this Blog....

Safe driving everyone!

So, what do you think is the best bang for your buck?

Is what a friend asked me today. I answered the Tesla model S 60 Kw if you have 59,000 to spend! Then I told him the Nissan Leaf. So I dropped off my kid from school and went on the weekly grocery store run (my turn)... and I started thinking....

My three brain cells came up with a few different scenarios but I realized it really is all up to the person buying, which in itself showed me why the green car market is all over the place. So I took a step back and analyzed the situation. Now bare with me... these are just my opinions and observations... but like I tell my wife constantly... "honey you know I am always right."  

Lets start by breaking this up into three categories:

1. All electric

2. Hybrid plugin

3. Hybrid

For this exercise I will remove #3 from the equation. Why? cause I think electricity is the future of transportation, and the plugins unlike the regular hybrids do have their gas engines but this is where the comparison stops because the Plugins still use electricity for more than 50% of their driving. Now I will have to  say thanks to the Prius, and Insight (lets not forget the original 2 door Honda Insight... I predict that this car will become a collectors item in the future.. heck I even want one!) that laid the path to where we are... but I really only consider these cars extreme gas savers. Either case they are good gas   sipping cars, but I think we have moved past that and Toyota and Honda should look into giving their hybrids much more electric range (above 20 miles per charge please) than they currently have. I go deeper into this further down the article.
The great thing is that these Plugin Hybrids can give one great all electric milage with use of very little fuel. Example: Jay Leno has driven (His Chevy Volt) around 11,000 miles with the original tank of gas! that is pretty awesome. Lastly, I will also remove the compliance cars, like Fiat 500e, Honda Fit E, Chevy Spark EV, etc. since you can only get them in one maybe two states. I am also taking out the two seat cars, since I am relating to families of 5 (that is what I have and my friend that posed the question).

Electric

So lets start with 'I just want to buy all electric'. Here we have a few cars:

(click on the name of the car to take you to their site)

1. Tesla Model S $52,000 - $96,000

                  A. 45 kw (150 miles per charge)

                  B. 60 Kw (230 miles per charge, EPA 208 miles)

                  C. 85 Kw (300 miles per charge, EPA 265 miles) Record to date is 432 miles per charge.

2. Nissan Leaf $36,050 and up.

                  A. 2012 model EPA 73 miles per charge

                  B. 2013 model EPA 83 miles per charge (estimated, in dealers March 2013)

3. Ford Focus EV $39,995 and up.

                  A. 2013 EPA 76 miles per charge

4. Mitsubishi i $30,825 and up.

                  A. 2013 EPA 62 miles per charge

 5. Coda Sedan $38,145 and up.
                  A. 2012 EPA 88 miles per charge  

I have been fortunate enough to sit in all these car except the Coda. Let me start by saying that I am glad the world is starting to see the potential in electric cars... unfortunately the price is still up there. I am hoping that eventually with volume the battery cost, thus the car cost, will diminish, but that is all in the future. Lets talk about today.

First, you all know how I feel about the Tesla. If she where a human we would have little Tesla's shocking each other in the backyard. But would you consider the Tesla 'best bang for your buck'? As my old Mercedes mechanic from Albania used to say... insert heavy accent here "Yes and No..." Thanks that cleared it up!

I believe that 'Yes' it is if you compare it to the other cars in its class. On fuel burn alone you are saving thousands! Then factor in the very low maintenance... and you begin to see why BMW, Mercedes, Audi, etc. are looking in the rear view mirror for the Tesla Model S fast approaching.

As for 'is it best bang for your buck' for the average person... No. Sadly no official word on leasing so you are going to have to fork up some serious cash even for the entry level.

I will skip ahead (yeah I kind off gave it away here) to the Mitsubishi i. Soooo I saw this car at the auto show.... first impressions... Citroen 2CV electric golf cart. Sorry folks but for 30K it's a no go for me, even with a great lease. It did not feel, nor look like a 'real' car. This is where I have to jump in and say to all manufactures out there... there is no need to make it look like an 'electric' car... everyone 'understands' what a car should look like. It is okay to give it your tweaks like the Leaf, but lets not go so overboard that it turns people away cause it is just too different.

Coda... oh... Coda. Backed up by Mr. Buffet himself yet only able to achieve a 2 star crash rating. This  electric car is as blah as it gets... now I know what I said above.... but Coda took this to the extreme! Even if it was a gas car it would be Blah and at $38,145 I want a little bit of bling! Sorry Mr. Buffet this car might make you cash, especially in China... but it is competing against some much better looking cars here in the US. For me 10 miles more range than my competitors is not enough to justify putting down the same amount of cash.    

And now we are left to the two possible 'Best bang for your buck (electric)" The Nissan Leaf and the Ford Focus EV. Ford offers slightly greater range (76 vs 73 of the Leaf) and more power (107 Kw motor vs 80 Kw of the Leaf). It is also a bit more efficient, but it is also close to $4000 more dollars! Heck everyone likes quick acceleration but for 4K more... I don't think so. One thing though... I think it is a much better looking car. Leaf looks bulky compared to the 'lets go' stance of the Ford. That said Ford quality is much much better than previous years which is a good thing, and as for Nissan quality it has always been great. If you want to justify buying American then the Ford might be for you, but remember that the 2013 Nissan Leaf will be made in Tennessee by Americans (sure profit goes overseas) but jobs stay here.

Throw in 3K down $219 per month for 3 years on the Leaf, and you got yourself a deal. Also note that they will most likely lower the 2012 price dramatically when the 2013's come out. I have heard off leasing for the 2012 models down to $139 per month!

So as you have guessed by now, in my opinion the Nissan Leaf is the 'Best bang for your buck (electric)'   

Hybrid plugin

Now lets say you do around 75% of your driving under 40 miles, 15% 50 to 90 miles and 10% over 100 miles. Well, here you have to go Hybrid plugin (Again even though Tesla can accomplish this range, I will not include it because of price) Here we have a nice lot to choose from, but I am bothered by something... I am a strong believer that you either walk in or stay out... but for the love of Pete don't hover in the door frame letting out the A/C! What I mean is why in the hell is the plug in range on some of these cars so low. It is so low on some (Ford Fusion Hybrid (not plugin) only does 1 mile electric) that it baffles my mind why they even went there in the first place!

Anyway, like I was saying...  there are a few other plugin Hybrids on the market, example the 11 mile (Toyota Prius) or 13 mile (Honda Accord) range electric only... Well, these do not count in my book as plugin. Just cause you have a plug does not justify putting you in the same ring as the 20+ miles electric range plug ins out there. I will have to say that they do show some impressive mpge numbers.

So I am going to push the miles traveled electric to a minimum of 20. Why cause it just chaps my hide when car manufactures are spending tons of money on testing the water... it might be cold folks but don't be chicken and just jump in! If I was not in a better mood I might push that number up to 30! But we will leave it at 20.

So now that I have set my parameters we have the following:

(click on the name of the car to take you to their site)

1. Ford C-Max Energi $33,745

                 A. EPA 21 miles electric, 100 mpge 

2. Ford Fusion Energi $40,345 Estimate

                 A. EPA 20 miles electric, 100 mpge (estimate) *

3. Chevy Volt $39,935

                 A. EPA 38 miles electric, 98 mpge

4. Fisker Karma $96,900

                 A. EPA 50 miles electric, 54mpge

Again, even though it is the sexiest of all the 'green' cars out there the Fisker Karma is waaaay out of the price range. What a beautiful car.

So now we move to the Ford C-Max Energi. This little car looks like a really good contender, especially with the $3750 tax rebate. Do I like it? Yes. Would I buy one? Yes, but only if I wanted a smaller hatchback. But remember this is me we are talking about! So I rather go all electric with the Nissan Leaf and save about 2 grand (for the charger at my house) and never use gas again! Now, I know Nissan Leaf owners will kill me for this, but if Ford stop listening to the suits they would make that sucker go 40 miles per charge, and now you have a potential Leaf killer.

I digress... Now we have the last two of the bunch The Volt and the Fusion Energi.... Here is how Ford Fusion Energy and Volt stack up. First we have size, Volt has only four seats and a samller hatch back than the Fusion. The Fusion has five seats and it is a midsize car. Again someone call Chevy and tell them they are missing the fifth seat! Man I just want to strangle the person that made this huge mistake. If the Volt was a five seat car, I can guaranty they would be selling many more of them... The reasoning behind that decision really confuses me. But hey! If you are single, or married with up to two kids (max) you are just fine! But as always my family of five does not fit, and neither does my friends.

Range... Volt is at 38 miles electric, Fusion is estimated at 20 miles electric. Now 20 miles is an estimate.  Fusion is on the fence until the real numbers come in. I have also heard 15 miles electric, but if the 100 mpge comes in true then I would venture to guess around 20 miles electric range. If they can hit that number then I would be happy, not ecstatic... especially with that huge trunk... come on ford! Why can't you bring it up to 30 miles electric... let me tell you I would seriously (as in top of my list) look at this car if I was in the market for a Hybrid plugin.

Price... Close to $40,000 for both But and this is a big But... Volt gets $7,500 tax rebate, the Fusion $3,750. So the Volt will cost you $32,500 and the Fusion Energi $36,250 or roughly a $3,750 difference. So is a bigger car with one extra seat worth 3K more than the Volt. If you have a family of five like mua... then that is a big yes!

So what is the 'best bang for your buck' in the Hybrid plugin cars?

If size does not matter the Ford C-Max Energi wins. If size does matter then the Fusion beats out the Volt cause of the fifth seat, and its just a bigger, more comfortable car (well built I might add). If you don't need that fifth seat then the Volt wins hands down.

It really comes down to who you are, how you drive, and how big is your family. One thing that I have to mention... We all have to add one extra cost that every one of these cars should have... the 240 plug you need to instal in the garage. Here you are looking at around $2000. You could be lucky though and already have a 240 in the garage (same plug that washer and dryer run from). Here is a link to the HomeDepot chargers. Lastly, you could keep it a 110 but then it will take a very, very long time to charge. Either way get out there and make your next car a green one. Key here is that your choice will really make a difference in the world, sure... a small one... but they add up.

Happy motoring, and please don't text and drive.

Tesla just brings a smile to my face...

When I went on my small quest to find and experience a Tesla Model S at the new Tesla store in Miami beach, on Lincoln mall, I ran across an interactive touchscreen that allowed one to input miles per year driven, fuel cost per gallon, and you could get a great estimate on how much you would spend per year in gas vs electric (very big difference! Lets just say electric wins). Well, I just wished the rest of the world (the unlucky ones that are not near a Tesla store) could have the same type of information.... and what do you know? here it is! Click here to take you there....

Now you can jump in on the knowledge train and test your theories against all the hoopla out there!

Here is my trip to Disney with the 60 KW doing around 65 mph average speed (which I have calculated the past to trips to Mickey's house) and 250 miles which is more than the 220 actual miles.

Yep that is only 12 min on the supercharger! Awesome... odd are that I would stop around the 150 mile range charge up 20 to 30 min as we all get crapy food in our bellies and I buy a lotto ticket then I will have an extra 150miles and we are good to go!

Two big announcements from Tesla

New pricing starting January 1

Pricing for battery pack replacement

Lets start with the bad news first.... Price is going up starting January 1 by $2500. Good news is that if you order before January 1 you get the original price. So for the Model S...

$59,900 for 40 KW (150 mile range)  $52,400 after $7500 gov kick

$69,900 for 60 KW (230 mile range)  $62,400 after $7500 gov kick

$79,900 for 85 KW (300 mile range)  $72,400 after $7500 gov kick

$94,900 for 85 KW performance (300 mile range)  $87,400 after $7500 gov kick

Do we get anything for this? Well, you do get something...  12 way adjustable electric heated front seats.

And now for the fun news for those of us that like to keep our cars more than ten years... Battery pack replacement packages.

For 40 KW $8000

For 60 KW $10000

For 85 KW $12000

If you don't mind forking another 10K after 10 years of use to keep on being green then you are good to go. I kind off see this scenario with me and the Model X since I think I will pass on the car to my kids... There can also be a small amount of money to be made here by selling the old batteries... but that is yet to be determined. And don't forget that with volume comes discounts so battery packs should become much cheaper in ten years. I am guessing the price will be half of what you see here come 2022.

Lastly, a new four year 50,000 mile extended warranty joins the standard 4 year 50,000 warrenty for additional $2500

Personally I though it was going to hurt a bit more. But I am glad it was just a small punch on the shoulder....