Thinking of buying a Tesla?

Here some great reasons to buy and some important disclaimer for folks in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  It is my belief as an already electric car driver it behooves me to write the caveats in hopes that Tesla and I, once we get those papers filed and service center in Fairfax Country, Virginia on Tyco Blvd., can work together to break the backs of the hybrid lobby and show Richmond and Fairfax that Electric Cars are the future.

	The US government offers a $7,500 federal tax credit when you purchase a new Tesla.
Yes, the tax credit is helpful, but only if you pay at least $7,500 in taxes.  As this would typically be someone earning $40,000 per year or more, I don't think it needs a caveat since no-one earning only $40,000 per year could *every* *dream* of owning a Model S at the equivalent of 2 years salary.
	Alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) displaying the Virginia Clean Special Fuel license plate may use Virginia HOV lanes, regardless of the number of occupants.
Clean Fuel plates are grandfathered, meaning the hybrid drivers ate up all the good ones and all that's left are third-generation access that only allows HOV access on a toll road in Northern Virginia.  We need to work to wrest those first-generation Clean Fuel plates attached to dirty priuses and civic hybrids from those smelly, polluting, dirty cars and reissue them to the proper, truly clean, 100% cars like the Tesla Model S and the car I drive which I won't bother mentioning because I'm just here to promote Tesla and the Model S, even while I can't afford one.  But maybe this point is moot since most of the HOV lanes in Virginia are being replaced by toll-based HOT lanes where the Clean Fuel plates don't even qualify.
	Local governments may reduce personal property taxes paid on electric vehicles.
Some local governments reduce your property tax burden by as much as 50%.  For example Prince William County, Arlington County and the richest county in the nation, Loudoun County, all provide property tax discounts.  However, the most populous and third richest county nationally, Fairfax, provides *no* property tax discounts what-so-ever, not for hybrids, not for electrics.  And the property tax on a Model S can be as high as $2,500 per year.  Though I suppose if you can afford a Model S, you can afford a property tax bill which represents your approximate fuel savings.  And let's not forget, Fairfax County is where the Tesla Showroom and future Service Center are located.
	Virginia Dominion Power offers reduced residential rates for electric vehicle charging.
Dominion's rates are why I used to pay $2,500 on fuel before getting an EV and now pay less than $300 per year for fuel.  The electric cost per kWh out of pocket (including tax, generation, distribution and all riders) can be as low as about 6¢/kWh.  But there is a caveat for this too, since Dominion now requires you to put your whole house on Time of Use for this rate, meaning if you have a stay-at-home parent and kids you'll be running the air conditioner and if you have a heat pump the heater seasonally at peak rates, though the rates fall into 4 tiers so the evenings aren't too bad and the overnights are dirt cheap.  They used to offer a two-meter solution but having gone this route I will say for me it's hard to consider it worth it.  While the whole house solution has effectively no cost to the customer to install, the two meter solution added perhaps $1,000 more installation costs after EVSE tax credits, which would take years to realize in saving relative to the whole-house option.  Then again, I calculated this based on the fact that I don't have a stay-at-home parent in my house.
	Electric vehicles are exempt from biannual emissions inspections.
True, but safety inspections are still required.  Let's not let drivers forget this lest they wish to get a ticket for failing to get their car inspected annually.
	Most importantly… NEVER PAY FOR GAS AGAIN!
Again, true, but what anti-EV Richmond did, secretly in the dark of the Hybrid Lobby highly public excision of a $64 surtax is leave that surtax on Electric Vehicles, in addition to a $50 per year tax already imposed on Electric Vehicles.  So effectively, Electric Vehicles are taxed $114 annually for use of the Virginia Roads (fuel taxes) which is, as far as I can tell, the highest fuel tax in the nation on EVs.  Compare this to a 50 mpg Hybrid driving the average 15,000 mi per year.  This represents only $48.60 in taxes for fuel at the rate of 16.2¢⁄gal as of 1 January 2015.  Thus, for 15,000 mi traveled per year an EV pays more than twice that of a hybrid in Virginia.  This is something which we need to fix.  Never should a hybrid be taxed less than an EV.  It's wrong for Tesla, and wrong for all of Teslas EV-driving supporters.

Thank you for reading

It's good to be back!

Rant to Nissan in latest survey

Any state outside of the blessed 5 (AZ, CA, OR, TN, WA) were left in the dark; then we heard that we in the South East could order in December and then, the day before my friend Olivier (Gudy) took possession of his Nissan LEAF, were told Nah, No LEAF for You and that I'd have to wait 8 more months to order my LEAF while Texas and Hawaii had already ordered.  This pushed my delivery past 1 July 2011 which caused damage which is impossible to remedy in that I was forced to loose HOV access to I66, one of DC's main arteries since you needed to have registered your car by that date in order to qualify for Tier 2 Clean Fuel Plates.  Instead, all I can get is a Tier 3 Clean Fuel plate which only allows me to use HOV on the Dulles Toll Road.  Yet, we thought we may have an advantage in that we'd be first to get the 2012 model year.  But you know what the 2012 model year is?  It's the same as a late 2011 Model Year car (when you could get the Cold Weather Trim) but for $1500 - $1900 more — for exactly the same car!  I had asked, and even offered to pay up to $1000 more for a 6.6kW charger.  I warned you that was the Ford Focus Electric killer option!  But no, you didn't offer that in 2012.  You don't even offer the car in Green yet.    So am I annoyed?  Yes, unbelievably so!  But do I love my red, zero-emission, CO2 FRE LEAF, yes!  Unbelievable so.  But the one does not negate the other.

2012 LEAF: Sloppy Seconds?

As my regular readers know, I'm usually trying to put a positive spin on a number of things, but every so often, I feel the need to get nasty and I think with the constant delay with respect to ordering of the 2012 Nissan LEAF, I can't help but ponder a bit the changes between this model year car and the previous one.

I've already reported that the price difference between the 2011 and 2012 model years is $1,490 for the base SV trim and $1,900 for the base SL trim and I stand by that.  Any site which exaggerates this price difference is likely to get a comment from me seeking to rectify the situation since I'm all about the truth.

After all, you're getting a complimentary Cold Weather Package with that cost increase, and the TEPCO plug on the SL trim, so a lot of the cost is just those options or alternate Trim levels carried over from the previous model year as standard.  Then again, how useful is the Cold Weather Trim in Florida?

But what else is new in the 2012 LEAF?  Did they add the 6.6kW charger?  No, not even as an option!  Have they made improvements to the batteries or the charge capacity?  No.  Have they improved the Software?  Yes, but 2011 drivers are getting that update for free.  Have they improved the motor or the aerodynamic?  Have they added a new audio or driving comfort option?  No, apart from what's already included in the Cold Weather Package.  The Cold Weather Package isn't even exclusive to the 2012 LEAF: it was an available trim level for the 2011 LEAF late in the model year.

So what do you get for your $1,490 - $1,900 in new model year premiums?  Nothing!  You don't get anything for this cost increase.  If you're in the original Tier 2 states of AL, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC and VA:

• not only was your ordering window delayed by 7 months and now 4 more days

• not only were you kept in the dark about Nissan's plans for Tier 2

• not only were you forced to listen to Nissan rant and rave about how great a car the LEAF is even though you couldn't (easily) buy it

• not only were you still denied the long sought after 6.6kW charging option that the Ford Focus Electric is beating the LEAF's ass on

• not only were you denied the color Green, a natural for a car called LEAF

• not only were you given the same set of Port Options / Accessories as 2011

Not only all of that, but you're also going to have to pay about 5% more for it.

Thanks a lot, Nissan!

Originally, I was all in favor of those of us in Tier 2 getting first pick of the brand-spanking-new 2012 model year under the assumption that it would be an improvement, even if just a slight improvement, over the 2011 as a reward for braking their commitment and forcing us to wait an extra half-year to order the car we've been pining for since at least 20 April 2010.  Now I say, bring me the Smyrna 2013!

Dear Nissan (An Opened Letter)

As a reporter for the Affordable Electric Car NOW! website, I strive for accuracy, fairness and reasonable information and analysis.  If you see my site, you can see that the clear majority of what I have to say is about the Nissan LEAF.  I broke a number of stories about the LEAF and LEAF news specific to the Tier 2 ordering region (AL, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SD, VA), including how the region was kicked back from last December ordering to Late Summer 2011 the day before the first scheduled delivery.  But not all I've written is adverse to Nissan's image.  Indeed, just yesterday it gave me tremendous pleasure to brake the news publicly that I, as well as many other Tier 2 reservation holders, may finally be seeing the light at the end of the long, dark tunnel. I, personally, have been waiting long and hard for our day to come and I must admit I still find it hard to believe it may finally be coming true. But now the story is out: we get to order in July!

But here's the problem: I got this news while speaking to the dealership who is in contact with the Nissan North America regional representative.  This is big news!  Why am I the one breaking it?  Why aren't you?  This is the kind of thing that's remiss in your eNewsletter.

It always seems you're so happy to tout success in AZ, CA, HI, OR, TN, TX and WA but never a peep about Tier 2, never mind the forgotten 36.  The first LEAF ever delivered in those forgotten 36 states was actually won by an Oklahoman in the Drive Electric tour!  This is news because right now, those folks have no idea when they can even order their cars.  And new reservations were only opened up to the original 7 states?  Again, this smacks of total apathy for your potential customers across the rest of the United States and Canada.

And what about the Cold Weather Package Trim now becoming available?  This is huge news, yet I have to read about it on Twitter from @EVNow and on the My Nissan LEAF forum instead of in your eNewsletter?  I've very happy that you've announced it at $930 MSRP above the corresponding SV, SL or SL+ETEC Trim, but I for one would like to know the invoice on these 3 new trim levels.

One thing that's missing, which I am trying to correct through my Meet Your Dealership series is putting the customer back in contact with his or her local dealer.  It's the dealers that have the best information as is, and they're the ones we make the deal with when our dashboards open.  This I think is another flaw in the ordering process.  I like the reduced haggling, don't get me wrong, and am glad that so far the LEAF hasn't been jacked up like the Chevy Volt was in its early release.  I like that Nissan North America is co-ordinating this, but don't put such a wall between we customers and our preferred dealer.  I'm trying to reach out, why aren't you?

And need I mention 6.6kW charging?  What's the deal with that?  Last I heard you were pushing it back to Smyrna going on line with the 2013 LEAF?  I'm seriously tempted to postpone my order until the 6.6kW option becomes available and I can find out the price.  Do you have any new information?  Is there any way I can convince you how important this is to me?  All that I know about it is what I learned in the online chat, not through the eNewsletter.

I really like the folks in the online chat, that I must say.  They're always very kind and helpful.  I do miss the e-mail transcript feature, though!  What happened with that?  It was great that I could quote chat log (the highest level representative I could get to speak to my news service) to at least get some answers when we Tier 2 folks were so wounded.

And my EVSE, I did it completely without you.  While you dragged your feet and let the 2010 Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit expire, I got something done about it.  Even now, I don't think any Tier 2 people have heard from AeroVironment, never mind ECOtality.  Heck, ECOtality's been AWOL since they announced they added the metropolitan Washington, D.C. region to their project area.  Not a peep from them or you, that's why I did it myself.

In summary, more transparency and regional customization is required.  We Tier 2 can only take so much of how great it is living in Hawaii with your LEAF or Celebrities in CA chillin with their LEAF or even our neighbor to the West, Tennessee and their great LEAF adventures.  That's what's most missing in your eNewsletter: information about the features we keep asking for and the progress in our local delivery market.  Stuff to reassure us, to make us feel wanted as a customer, and not excluded as a reject not good enough for the cool kids.

And 6.6kW charging... come on, let's punch that Focus Electric in the no-trunk-space butt!

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Portions of this letter appeared in my submission to the Nissan LEAF survey of 2 June 2011.