Leaf or MiEV? Which should I buy?

According to this website, Nissan is about to start taking reservations again.

Beginning May 1, Nissan will reopen reservations to selected US customers who were registered before April 20, 2011 in states currently selling the Nissan LEAF™ (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington).

Following this early-reservation period, reservations then will open to the general public in those launch states. More details to follow soon regarding other markets.

It will cost me $99 (which is refundable if I don't buy a Leaf) to get in line to purchase one. Before actually purchasing one at a dealership, I'm expected to spend another $99 to have a Nissan approved electrical contractor send an electrician to my home to tell me what it will cost to install one of their 240 volt, $700 chargers in my garage, which will require a dedicated circuit similar to that used for a clothes dryer.

Mitsubishi is also now taking reservations for its MiEV electric car. However, they want a $299 refundable reservation fee, which they claim will apply to the purchase price of the car (but I suspect the MSRP has already been jacked up by that amount so don't think you're getting a deal). They are waiving the $99 electrical inspection fee for the first batch of customers to sign up. I also doubt if they will be using the same electrical contractor as Nissan.

So, anyway, I ponied up for the MiEV and will also pay to reserve a Leaf on May first. I need help deciding which one to get.

I would rarely need to drive beyond the range of either car and because we are already a three car family (wife and two driving children) I can always use one of the other cars for longer trips.

My youngest daughter thinks it would be dumb to pay an extra $5,000 to be able to haul a fifth person about twice a year.

I test drove a Leaf and was very impressed. My biggest concern about the MiEV is range at highway speeds. The official ranges given are for a mixture of city and highway. Note that the Leaf has a much lower drag coefficient. This means it will get better mileage at high speeds than the MiEV.

But in all seriousness, that would only mean driving a regular car about half a dozen more times per year if I chose the MiEV. For two car families, the range difference is largely irrelevant, and for one car families as well come to think of it because you never want to stretch your electric car to its limits.

Before Mitsubishi dropped their price below that of the Leaf I could see no reason to buy it instead of a Leaf. Why pay more and get less of everything? Although, that logic hasn't stopped Smart car owners. Maybe they should change the name ; )

I also wonder if people will spring for the Leaf just because it has better performance in the same way people spring for a Prius over the Insight?

Which should I buy?

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New Status Symbols on Horizon

According to the Edmunds Green Car Advisor blog, Mitsubishi has already sold out the first production run of it's electric car, the i-MiEV. And you are right. That isn't a picture of the i-MiEV above. It's a near-clone called the Blue Car that incorporates a capacitor along with the batteries. Here's the real deal.

The i-MiEV is based on the Mitsubishi i. It's expensive and will therefore have limited mass appeal. But envy, as is always the case, will drive a demand for similar cars that cost less and the market will meet that demand. I predict that the i-MiEV will do for the electric car market what the Prius (highest selling model in Japan, 14th out of 350 in U.S.) has done for the hybrid market.

And then there is the Audi e-tron. According to gas2.0, this concept car will be on display at the Frankfurt Auto Show. It is purported to produce "a full thousand more lb-ft of torque than the 'world’s strongest' semi truck." Good God.

I was motivated to do this post by an article over on the Dot Earth blog dealing with the dog-eared mantra that human beings can simply choose to stop consuming (or having sex for that matter). That idea is barking up the wrong tree. Human beings need to seek status. We need to provide more environmentally benign ways to satisfy that subliminal and almost totally ignored instinctive urge.

Here's the comment I left on Dot Earth:

They are on the right track, but the problem isn't consumption per se, but conspicuous consumption. They should join forces with evolutionary psychologists to better understand what drives us to want more and more material possessions. Man cannot live by vacations alone.

We seek bigger and more in a largely subconscious attempt to advance or hold our place in our monkey troop status hierarchy. Opioid release is how evolution goads us to seek status. If it feels good, you tend to want to do it. Sexual urges are closely related to status seeking urges, but more obvious.

The market would respond (and I suspect it is already beginning to do so) to an increase in demand for more environmentally benign status symbols. The Prius is presently the fastest selling car in Japan and the i-MiEV electric car has already sold out its first production run in pre-orders.

Update: A tipster reminded me of the Nissan LEAF, due to arrive next year and go into mass production in 2012.