Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
Another thought is just trade vehicles with someone when you're going out of town. My friend just asked me today if he can borrow the Prius next week to go camping, because it's outside the range of the Leaf.
I get to drive a Leaf, he gets the range he needs.
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I'm actually doing that next week! I get to drive a 2015 Chevy Sonic to Denver and back and they get the Leaf for a week.
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But like anything it requires planning. Plus it's one thing to make planning for just one family and another to make planning for two. Of course I could rent on those few occasions when it doesn't work out for anyone else to trade and I don't have the time to go from charging station to overnight-campground to charging station.
One of the nice things about the Leaf is the lack of maintenance. I've been rebuilding the engine in my Super Beetle for the past 5 years and still don't have it done. Well, part of that was the Chevy Astro I had for a few years there that had some major problem just about every weekend, which I ended up selling just about the time I got 95% of it's problems worked out.
But the little diesel is nice in that it doesn't need much maintenance either. However, the roof does leak, all the door rubbers are disintegrated and 3 out of 4 doors won't open (which I've fixed before but the aftermarket parts are junk right out of the box). If I made a pusher trailer out of it then those problems wouldn't matter. Plus I wouldn't have to pay insurance on two vehicles. On the other hand, taking the Golf diesel off of my insurance would be enough afford me a one-day car rental every month, about $40 per month.
Oh! The endless array of options just go on and on. Maybe get the Super Beetle running and put it on antique plates and insurance for cheap and drive it on those once-in-a-while occasions.
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Still, a pusher trailer with the little diesel seems to be the best option right now. The diesel is reliable, it would be cheap to run after the initial conversion, I have lots of tires for it, even snow chains, it's easy to maintain, it gets stellar (55mpg) as it is so it won't be too low after the conversion, I could use it whenever with no hassles, if it breaks I'm not without a car, it would be dual or tri fuel so if I run out of one I can keep going on the other, I could take it to Mexico or Canada, I could do weeks or months long road trips without causing anyone, or my wallet, any problems and I'd still be driving my plush Leaf with it's leather seats, great head room, airbags, navigation system, bluetooth radio and air-conditioner without having to rent all that.
The only thing odd about a diesel pusher trailer is that people would expect an electric car not to make black smoke.