Usually, I am all about exposing companies for greenwashing, and when I saw this add today, my hackles initially stood on end. However, after checking it out, I have to say, the claims are true, and the ad is entertaining. Nissan’s new all electric car, the Leaf, will produce more emissions than a dinning room chair, but considering the crash test rating of dining room chairs, I think it’s worth the emissions. After all, the average electric car will consume about the same amount of energy in a year as a refrigerator or air-conditioner would, so that is a huge step up from gas vehicles and way off the WAVE scale. Eventually, once the grid is powered with renewable energy, electric vehicles will truly be zero emissions, but for now we will just have to go on the take these small steps, or drive around our kitchen chairs. This looks super fun, and I particularly love the turn signals.
The Leaf (Leading, Environmentally Friendly, Affordable, Family Car) is set to be released in the US later this year and will sell for $33,000. While this is not cheap, the fuel saving will be considerable and there are some great tax credits available. When taking all of the federal and state tax credits (CA, GA, OR) into account, the best situation would be paying about 22K for the car and home charging station. The car will have a range of 100miles and can be fully recharged at home in 8hr, but can be 80% charged in as little as 30min at a charging station. While, this may not be the solution for everyone, I know that this would be the perfect car for many commuters like me.
