Quote:
Originally Posted by Flakbadger
I bought a midsize Leaf because it cost me ~$11,500 for a basically brand new car. $16,800, minus $2,500 rebate, minus selling old Yaris to my dad for a commuter vehicle.
If I had 30 thousand dollars to spend on a car, I would just pay someone to convert a modern subcompact to electric. The Leaf was the only option that had a reasonable range and was a price I could afford.
When I bought the Leaf, if the Chevy Bolt had been in a price range I was willing to pay I would have bought one of them instead. But I can't imagine spending (at the time) $25,000 on a used car.
We bought my wife's Honda Fit ~6 years ago for $17,000 B-R-A-N-D N-E-W. So that's why I bought the Leaf; because it's a set of compromises to get me an electric car, now, that I can afford, with a reasonable-ish range.
If Toyota made a Yaris electric (or even a Corolla), I'd be all over it.
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A Mini EV isn't $30K though. Sounds like you got the $2500 Oregon charge ahead rebate. That would bring the Mini EV down to $17,500 new after incentives. Getting the full federal EV tax credit and charge ahead rebate can be tough so the vehicle would likely need to be leased originally to get all the rebates.
My subcompact 2016 Spark EV lease was $100 a month zero down. It would have been about $11,500 to buy outright. Leasing and then buying would have been $13,000 total.
I don't know when you bought your Leaf but today the used EV market is full of cheap subcompact EVs for $10K or less.
You mention reasonable range. Reasonable range and subcompact do not go together. That is another reason manufacturers are moving their EVs to larger vehicles. If you want 150 or more miles of range you won't find that in a subcompact car.