It started, of course, with the Toyota Prius: America’s slow turn towards energy-efficient automobiles. The Prius has been wildly popular, so it only stands to reason that other automakers would jump on that bandwagon, and one who jumped and made a huge splash is Nissan with their Nissan LEAF.
It was announced on March 20, 2015, that Nissan had sold their 75,000th Nissan LEAF in the United States to Rishabh Mehandru of Portland, Oregon. This happens to be the second a LEAF that Mehandru has purchased in an effort to reduce the emissions put in the air. Mehandru explains:
“I’m a runner, and when I ran outside I found that I was inhaling a lot of exhaust from the gas-powered cars that passed me on the roads. I instantly became aware of the amount of fuel I was burning, and that’s when I first decided that I wanted to get an electric car.”
Mehandru drives about thirty miles each day to and from his job as senior engineer at Intel, and he says he enjoys the spirited driving experience that the LEAF offers.
Brendan Jones, director of the Nissan Electric Vehicle Sales and Infrastructure, says: “With more and more Nissan LEAF owners on the road, we see shoppers coming in already educated on LEAF’s benefits because they got to drive one that belongs to a friend or neighbor. It’s that kind of word-of-mouth that really drives Nissan LEAF sales.”
The all-electric Nissan LEAF seats up to five passengers comfortably and has a driving range of 84 miles on a fully-charged battery. It also has an MPGe rating of 128 in the city and 101 on the highway with a 114 combined. The starting price for a LEAF is $22,000 after the Federal tax credit of $7,500, and of course you can also expect lower running costs and less schedule maintenance since it has fewer moving parts in the engine and less wear and tear on the engine parts.
We can expect to see more and more of these electric vehicles produced in the next few years, and as technology advances, we will see the mileage ranges increase for the batteries. Without a doubt, if most of your driving is done around town, an all-electric vehicle is certainly an option worth considering.
All Import Auto Parts is the place to shop for all of your Nissan replacement parts needs. They carry parts for all Nissan models, including the LEAF, and their greatly discounted prices will save you money that you can spend having fun.