April 2011
We got our first 100% electric car, awesome, we love it! In fact, we think it is so good that I've ordered another one for me. But, if you were to consider getting a electric car you should think carefully because the first thing you will get when people ask about or notice the car is the usual stream of negative comments like, "of course you can't put the heating on" or "they're not environmentally friendly, you burn lots of coal" or "they're so slow, do you want a tow?" or "you can only go to the shops and then you'll run out of power" or "it's more environmentally friendly to keep running an old car", well the list goes on.

So, after listening to so many comments from people who frankly have an unfounded and ill informed perspective, I decided to put some facts down to educate the critics who don't usually have any facts to justify their negative views. This will hopefully explain how Electric Cars can work for many people, just as they work for us.

May 2011
I installed a new circuit at the front of the garage for the Leaf as the location at the back was expected to serve a car with a rear charger; the Leaf's is at the front! I also bought some used electricity meters off ebay and connected one up to this new circuit. We will now be able to see exactly how much electricity we are using to compare it with "normal" cars. I will include a table below to compare the basic running costs of a the Nissan Leaf against two "normal" cars, a diesel and a petrol car. I will use realistic figures of 50mpg for the diesel car and 35mpg for the petrol car. It will be interesting to see how the cost savings add up over time using real fuel prices.

July 2011
We took delivery of another Leaf (for me) so Iinstalled another circuit and electricity meter on the other side of the garage. We didn't trade in my old Volvo as we were only offered £1,400 for it, so it has now been relegated to the back garden. I will update the chart to include my Leaf too.