Nissan LEAF Cost Comparison

Now that Nissan has put a price on a new LEAF battery one can compare the cost of driving a LEAF to driving a equally-priced gasoline car. The replacement battery is the new heat-resistant battery, often called the "lizard" battery. The 2015 LEAF is the first with the new battery. http://www.torquenews.com/2250/replacement-battery-cost-bodes-well-used-leaf-market

Nissan has stated that the average LEAF driver can expect the LEAF battery to lose about 20% of its capacity in 5 years and about 30% of its capacity in 10 years. So, I assume that a LEAF will get a new battery within its first 10 years. The rest of the car is very well made and should last for decades with proper treatment.

From the article I estimate that the total cost of replacing the battery will be ~$6000.

The comparison below is for a LEAF and a gasoline car that sells for same price; the calculated saving is the same for any equal price. The MSRP for the three 2014 LEAF models are:

• S model: $28,980 (Has only black cloth interior.)
• SV model: $32,000 (Has light gray and black cloth interior.)
• SV model with LED headlights and Quick Charge Port Package and Premium Package: $35,530
• SL model: $35,020 (Has only black leather interior.)
• SL model with Premium Package: $36,070

There is a $7,500 federal tax credit for all three models.

Assume:

• Price of $35,000 for a LEAF and a gasoline car.
• Average price of electricity for the next 10 years is $0.15/kWh.
• Average price of gasoline for the next 10 years is $3.50/gallon.
• Efficiency of the LEAF is 3.4 miles/kWh.
• Efficiency of the gasoline car is 30 miles/gallon.
• Average mileage is 12,000 miles/year.
• Maintenance for a LEAF is $100/year.
• Maintenance for a gasoline car is $300/year.
• Tire replacement cost is the same for both cars.

Cost of LEAF without $7,500 federal tax credit for 10 years:

Cost of LEAF with $7,500 federal tax credit for 10 years:

Cost of gasoline car for 10 years:

So, the first 10-years saving for the LEAF compared to an equally-priced gasoline car is:

• Without $7,500 federal tax credit:           $4,710
• With $7,500 federal tax credit:                  $12,210

 The saving will probably increase in the second 10 years for the following reasons:

• The maintenance cost for the gasoline car will probably increase faster than the maintenance cost of the LEAF.
• The price of gasoline will probably rise faster than the cost of electricity. See http://www.roperld.com/science/minerals/USOilBoom_Bust.htm and http://www.roperld.com/Science/electricityus.htm .
• If you put solar PV on your property sufficient to charge the LEAF most of the time, the cost of electricity will remain essentially constant for charging the LEAF for two or three decades. (I charge my LEAF about 98% of the time in our garage and, through Solarize Blacksburg, soon we will have twice as much PV electricity as the LEAF uses.)

In future years the replacement battery may cost less or have higher capacity than the battery being replaced for similar cost.

This same calculation applies for any pure electric car except for slight differences in the miles/kWh value. I am considering leasing the new Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive car in May 2015 when my LEAF lease expires, because it has a range of 104 miles compared to the 2015-LEAF range of 84 miles.

Electric Cars Musings