Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - Anyone heard of this? Kandi Viper 250MD reverse trike.

radiantthought · 08-07-2014, 09:12 PM

I'm currently leasing the leaf. I have a pretty sweet situation at my university where they have several plug-in only spots available for hybrids/electrics which I use to charge my vehicle for free 95% of the time. Well, 'free' after the $100-ish annual parking registration. I don't intend to purchase it once the lease expires next September though, the payments would be too much. I've done lots of looking around and figure I'll probably get a prius once my lease is up.

The reason I was looking at this is that I was considering what my options were for a small and efficient runabout for just short jaunts around town as well as grocery runs. This is mostly just farther off future planning for once I graduate and start making enough money to afford such a thing. I got into looking at trikes, which I've always had an affinity for, and came across the Sunl 150cc Spider reverse trike. While doing research on that I came across this, and thought it seemed like a much nicer unit. Ultimately I wanted to see if anyone knew about this, or anything similar. Sadly it seems that this market segment for small two seat microcars is just not something which really exists right now. Most of the things like this are performance vehicles and/or luxury toys with ridiculous pricetags.

With regards to the Leaf. The biggest issue I have with it is the range. It's fine for 90% of my driving needs (daily commuter), it's that last 10% where I find myself very frustrated. My mother lives about an hour away by interstate, and while I can handily make it up there to see her, I've got to charge for several hours before I'm able to come back home. I'm completely unable to visit my family and friends who live in a city about 120 miles away, as I'm not willing to stop and spend an hour charging along the way. Realistically it's great as a city car and especially as a second vehicle. Unfortunately, it's quite an expensive vehicle to fill those roles, and has some real limitations. You constantly need to know how far you're going and where you can charge in that area.

08-07-2014, 09:12 PM	#18 (permalink)
radiantthought EcoModding Lurker Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Florida Posts: 54 Leaf on the Wind - '13 Nissan Leaf Thanks: 6 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts	I'm currently leasing the leaf. I have a pretty sweet situation at my university where they have several plug-in only spots available for hybrids/electrics which I use to charge my vehicle for free 95% of the time. Well, 'free' after the $100-ish annual parking registration. I don't intend to purchase it once the lease expires next September though, the payments would be too much. I've done lots of looking around and figure I'll probably get a prius once my lease is up. The reason I was looking at this is that I was considering what my options were for a small and efficient runabout for just short jaunts around town as well as grocery runs. This is mostly just farther off future planning for once I graduate and start making enough money to afford such a thing. I got into looking at trikes, which I've always had an affinity for, and came across the Sunl 150cc Spider reverse trike. While doing research on that I came across this, and thought it seemed like a much nicer unit. Ultimately I wanted to see if anyone knew about this, or anything similar. Sadly it seems that this market segment for small two seat microcars is just not something which really exists right now. Most of the things like this are performance vehicles and/or luxury toys with ridiculous pricetags. With regards to the Leaf. The biggest issue I have with it is the range. It's fine for 90% of my driving needs (daily commuter), it's that last 10% where I find myself very frustrated. My mother lives about an hour away by interstate, and while I can handily make it up there to see her, I've got to charge for several hours before I'm able to come back home. I'm completely unable to visit my family and friends who live in a city about 120 miles away, as I'm not willing to stop and spend an hour charging along the way. Realistically it's great as a city car and especially as a second vehicle. Unfortunately, it's quite an expensive vehicle to fill those roles, and has some real limitations. You constantly need to know how far you're going and where you can charge in that area.