The Leaf is starting to look more interesting as the price of gas makes a slow increase…

I’m going to test drive a Leaf next Friday and since I was thinking about it I updated my calculation. The electrical cost hasn’t changed but gas is definitely starting to inch up. I recalculated my savings and now I would save $300 more assuming no power increases. I am guessing that for every 50 cent jump in the price of a gallon of gas, I would save $500 so I’m getting even more serious about the Leaf purchase. The icing on the cake would be to have the $7500 rebate at the purchase instead of the tax credit. I hope that gets passed before my purchase time comes up.

My daily commute
50 miles per day
5 days per week
50 x (52 x 5) = 13,000 miles driven per year

Gas cost per gallon – $3.05
Electricity cost to charge car for 100 mile trip – $2.27 (calculation below)

How I figured out charging cost
- The summer and winter rates vary for my electricity provider but are locked in at $0.085/kWh for the first 900 kwh so it makes the calculation a little high since I’m not taking this into consideration.
First 900 kwh = $0.085/kWh
Winter = $0.076/kWh
Summer = 0.1125/kWh

- Nissan uses 24 hours as the basis for their calculation. I will get an 8 hour charger but the power used is the same(just spins the meter much faster )
0.076 x 24 = $1.83
0.1125 x 24 = $2.70
Avg = 1.83 + 2.70 /2 = $2.27

Current Car
- Curent gets 23 mpg although this depends on my driving
13,000 / 23 = 565 gallons of gas
565 x $3.05 = $1723 on gas per year

Electrical car
13,000 / 100 = 130 charges(in reality it would be more like 260 charges because my daily travel is only 50 miles but it should be about the same power used)
130 x 2.27 = $296 on electricity per year

$1723 – $296 = $1427 variable cost savings
- There is also much less fluctuation in electrical cost vs. gas cost.

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