Electric car powers big savings
Couple expects upfront costs to be offset
It wasn’t just the environmental benefits that motivated Coquitlam’s Bill and Nicole Clendinning to buy the first all-electric Nissan Leaf in B.C. back in October; saving money also played a role.
“We figure based on our driving experience, that we are saving about three and a half tonnes a year of CO2 emissions,” said Bill Clendinning.
“In the three and a half months that we’ve had it, I figure that we’ve saved $430 just in fuel,” he said, comparing it to their other vehicle, a hybrid Toyota Prius.
The couple decided on a four-year lease for the red hatchback car that seats five people and has plenty of room for their four-year-old daughter, Tara. The lease payments are not cheap: After a $5,000 Clean Energy Vehicle rebate, they’re still paying $820 a month for the $44,020 vehicle.
“The basic equation is, although you’re paying more upfront for the vehicle, your lifetime savings are quite significant,” Clendinning said.
For one thing, because the car is electric, they’re not shelling out for gas or oil changes or tune-ups, which also add up.
Despite the potential longterm savings, very few Canadians — less than a fraction of one per cent — have decided to buy an electric vehicle, said Brian Murphy, a senior manager at J.D. Power and Associates.
“I think the ball is in the consumers’ court as far as what happens next with electric vehicles,” he said. “I think inherently they’re wonderful and it would be great to live in a zero-emission world, but I think it’s going to take a while.”
Even with hybrid vehicles — such as the Toyota Prius — which have been around more than a decade, consumer uptake has been slow, Murphy said.
The Clendinnings chose to lease the Leaf because they think electric vehicle technology will improve a lot in four years and that the prices will come down. There is some controversy about how much it will cost to replace a Leaf battery when it does wear out: Nissan’s U.S. website says “an estimated cost cannot be provided” and asks customers to sign up for updates. With the lease, Clendinning is not concerned about the life of the lithium-ion battery, which is under warranty for eight years or 100,000 kilometres.
Clendinning said the electric car is peppy and fun to drive.
“In a typical car, you’re getting your maximum jump or torque at 2,000 to 3,000 rpms, but in an electric car, you get it all at zero,” he said. “When you jump off the line at a light, you’re getting all of your torque. It’s great on the highway too.”
The couple, who both work for BC Hydro, drive about 52 kilometres round trip to work each day, a commute of about 40 minutes each way.
“It’s very nice not to have to stop at a gas station,” Clendinning said. Instead, they plug the car in overnight and it’s ready to go again in the morning.
A full charge will take the car between 120 and 160 kilometres, depending on the weather and the terrain.
“We live at the top of a steep hill, which also makes a difference,” Clendinning said.
According to Murphy, “range anxiety” about having to take trips that are 200 kilometres or more, even just occasionally, is slowing the adoption of electric vehicles.
The Clendinnings have taken their car on two trips — one to Harrison Hot Springs, the other to Mount Seymour, both with no problem.
“At Harrison we just plugged it into a regular outlet and had no trouble. We just asked the front desk and they were happy to give us an extension cord and it was no problem,” Clendinning said.
Each charge adds $2.30 to the electricity bill, and so far, the family has spent about $149 on electricity for the car. It comes with access to a website where Nissan tracks exactly how much electric- ity the Leaf has used.
The family had a $1,000 charging dock installed in their home, which charges the car in about six hours. The installation of the dock cost $1,065.
“You can plug it into a regular outlet and for a Leaf to fully charge from empty, that takes about 16 hours,” Clendinning said.
There are now 27 charging stations throughout B.C. with 18 in Metro Vancouver; last year there were just two.
B.C. has the highest hybrid adoption rate in Canada, at 2.5 times higher than other provinces, and BC Hydro says its power grid can handle growth in the future.
“To ensure B.C. continues to have the highest electric vehicle adoption rates in North America, the province recently announced a rebate program,” BC Hydro’s Mark Dubois-phillips, senior manager of technology development, said in an email. “As well, smart meters and a more modern grid will further enhance BC Hydro’s ability to support innovations like electric vehicles.”