Jon Hoekstra, the first Seattle-area resident to get the new Nissan Leaf, shows off the electric motor. Several others in the area are eagerly awaiting their cars. (Barry Gibbons / Special to NWautos)
After the first few wintry weeks cruising Seattle and the Eastside in his cherry-red, electric-powered Nissan Leaf, Jon Hoekstra has discovered only one design flaw: No heated seats.
Cathy and Tom Saxton of Sammamish have an electric Toyota Rav4, a Tesla Roadster and a Nissan Leaf on order. (Courtesy of Cathy and Tom Saxton)
As for the pluses: "It has swift, smooth acceleration, seats four adults comfortably and is very quiet," he says. "It does everything you expect a car to do -- it just does it without gas, tailpipe pollution or engine noise."
Hoekstra and his wife, Jennifer Steele, were among the first in the country to drive home a Leaf, the first mass-produced sedan powered entirely by electricity. Several hundred others in the region are still eagerly awaiting a Leaf of their own.
"I can't wait! I can't wait!" says Barbara Joyce, of Snoqualmie, whose blue Leaf is scheduled to arrive in the spring. "They're not rolling off the line nearly as quickly as I would like."
More than 300 local motorists ordered a Leaf for delivery in 2011, and thousands will be delivered this year nationwide, says Matt Goldstein, electric-vehicle sales leader at Stadium Nissan of Seattle.
Curious about electric cars?
- • Drop in on a meeting of the Seattle Electric Vehicle Association, which meets the second Tuesday of each month.
- • Visit MC Electric Vehicles in Seattle, the Green Car Company in Bellevue or Go Green on Bainbridge Island. These dealerships sell electric-powered cars, trucks, scooters, bikes and recreational vehicles from smaller manufacturers.
- • Add your name to e-mail lists of dealerships that specialize in electric cars (such as Stadium Nissan) or on automakers' websites (such as ford.com or chevrolet.com/volt) to stay up to date on developments.
- • Follow the work of the West Coast Green Highway Initiative.
"A lot of them have been waiting their entire lives to drive an electric car," Goldstein says of his customers. "A lot of them have memories of the oil embargo and are happy they don't have to rely on foreign oil."
For Cathy and Tom Saxton, of Sammamish, the Leaf will be their third electric vehicle, joining an electric-powered Toyota Rav4 and a Tesla Roadster in the garage.
"We sold our last gas-burning car last summer," says Cathy Saxton. "The reality is, going to a gas station is a real nuisance. An electric car is like a cellphone: you plug it in each night, [and] it's ready in the morning. Can you imagine having to go to a gas station to charge your cellphone?"
Barbara Joyce, Cathy's mother, decided to follow suit and order a Leaf, but not before months of carefully documenting exactly how far she drove on her trips between Snoqualmie and Des Moines, Kent and Safeco Field. She found that the farthest she went in one day was 70 miles, well within the Leaf's advertised range of 100 miles on a charge.
"It's a great, great step forward, and actually a step back," Joyce says, noting the prevalence of electric cars in this country in the early 1900s. "Personally, I think it's the car of the future -- but we'll see."
5 Comments
By Steve Lough on January 30, 2011 10:01 AM
Many THANKS to the Seattle Times and their staff writer Karen for getting the Story RIGHT.
After 30 years of having reporters asking silly things like " how long is your extension cord" and other sly remarks, I believe we are finally coming to the EV Decade !
Well balanced article complete with our WEB address for the Seattle EV Association, the largest Electric Auto Association chapter in the USA !!
We look forward to having many new guests come to our meetings. Details at our Web site.
Steve Lough
President
Seattle EV Association
By Maggie Nowakowska on January 30, 2011 12:33 PM
I'm one of those Seattleites waiting for her email from Nissan, saying that her new LEAFl (cayenne red!) with be here within the month. Very *very* excited. The house has been okayed for my home charger, the City has sent me a letter reassuring me that it is working to get off-time rates and that it will be happy to help if there are any problems with the lines to my house, and...all my friends and neighbors are asking, when, when, when?!
I'm very happy to be part of the LEAF roll-out. I just rotated my tires on the old Maxima and with each tank of gas, I tell myself, "This may be the last!"
Anytime between Feb and Apr, I was told. That email can't come too soon!
By P on January 30, 2011 4:17 PM
It's hilarious that people seem to think that electric cars mean that they can own more cars. Three electric cars? Really? Electric cars aren't a license for further buying.
By John Trondson on January 30, 2011 4:30 PM
I have been a mechanic for 30 years. The internal combustion engine does a better job of creating wasted heat than creating the power to move the machine. If we Americans are spending 1 billion a day on foreign oil, 750 million is spent on wasted heat and pollution.
The electric motor is over 95% efficient and the electrons are not only cheaper but domestic. We Americans need to embrace these new cars. I believe it is the patriotic thing to do.
I hope in the future driving a car that smokes is looked at as uncool as smoking cigarettes. How about instead of throwing 750 million out the window every day we put that money towards balancing the budget.
By Bill Hoke on April 5, 2011 9:00 AM
I agree with Steve Lough - nice article, free of the nonsense common in recent press coverage of EVs. I'm waiting for my Leaf, too, and as a second car I'm confident it will cover our family's around-town uses quite well. We've got to transition away from gasoline - for many reasons - and this is the first wave of the revolution. Very exciting!