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I don't think of myself as a tree hugger, but some might consider me one, but certainly not hard core.
For the wife and I it would work fine. Many of my trips are short, some less than two miles. Her work commute is a 28 round trip. She averages about 8 gallons a week not including out of town trips.
I could get rid of every other vehicle I own, except the Honda 50 (maybe 200 miles a year) which does not require insurance and the taxes are not worth the stamp to send me the notice. That virtually eliminates the risk of serious injury on a bike, about 25k miles in the last 5 years or more (on bikes).
My gasoline average cost per month is right around $100. I figure it would add about $25a month to our electricity bill, which saves right at half the cost of the lease. The wife spends about $150, including the occasional trip to her two daughers homes, 75 and 160miles away. If she used it for work and errands it would cut her consumption in half, which covers the lease completely.
Geniune EV interest. I figure after 4 years in production the technology is fairly mature. All the hype about battery capacities advancing at a rapid rate has not really happened and I doubt it will happen quickly. If so then I would think Nissan would incorporate that into potential upgrades.
The wife thinks I should have kept the Fiesta, but when she falls asleep in the Sentra I have my answer about it's acceptability.
Overall the lease would leave me with ample cash reserves. I could pay for it completely by reducing my reserves to 8k, but then I would have to use home equity for additional cash. I find that when I do that (seriously deplete reserves) it seems to be an invitation for the unexpected large expense to appear at just the wrong time.
I like the idea of getting almost a third off the sticker, which will probably vanish when the Fed $7500 credit goes away and I like the idea of a 3 year test drive that, when all things are considered does not cost me that much more a month, maybe $100 over what I am spending now or just about the same asit was when I had 4 vehicles licensed and insured at the same time.
regards
mech
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