I bought a used 2023 Nissan Leaf in 2025, my first 'new' car in 15 years. The above photo was taken by the dealership; apparently their social media team likes to post photos of all purchasers.
I test drove a Tesla in 2012, and quickly realized my mistake. No gasoline-powered car (outside of supercars, maybe? Never drove one of those) could match the feel of pressing the throttle on an electric.
I started out with a used minivan, which I drove into the ground. Then I bought a used Olds that I drove into the ground. Then I bought a used Camry that I bought before we had kids, when I had a 16 mile commute.
Fast forward about 15 years, and I found myself with a very short commute, only driving a few miles a day, and a family minivan we use for nearly all the 'driving around the kids' stuff.
So I wanted a smaller car (get back a foot or so of garage space...) that was also more efficient.
Video and GitHub EV Project
If you don't like reading blog posts (why are you here?), I also posted a video going over most of this, with a little more color, on my YouTube channel:
Also, this blog post is also the centerpiece of my new GitHub project geerlingguy/electric-car, where I detail all the steps on my nascent EV journey.
Equipment and Add-ons
Before I go further, I thought I'd mention some of the things I've added to my Leaf to make the EV experience a little nicer (some links are Amazon affiliate links. I earn for qualifying referrals):
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