The Nissan Leaf 2012
So I've bought a Nissan Leaf 2012 hatchback a few months ago and I am pleased with my purchase. It had 29,000 miles on it and 11 out of 12 bars of fuel range left. If anybody has considered buying an electric car for short commutes, I highly recommend buying one. There are some things that must be considered first. First you must have a place to connect your car every night to charge. Second, how many miles will you be driving everyday? Is it more than 84 per day? Get a gas car.. Is it less than 84 miles per day? 
You're good to go. There are three levels of charging. Your car comes with a level one trickle charger that will take 21 hours to fully charge a car. I found a level two charger online for $300-$500 that is made by Emotorwerks Juicebox. It connects to your dryer wall outlet at home. With this charger, you can be fully charged within 4-5 hours. I drive 64 miles everyday on one charge and then more when I charge up again. Also the timer must be setup in order to charge without interruptions. If you can afford the leaf equipped with a level 3 charger chademo, get one. It charges your car within 30 minutes.
You have to buy the car already equipped with one, you cannot upgrade your existing charger later. After driving the leaf for a year it has only lost one out of 11 bars of battery capacity, yet the range remains the same, which is at 84 miles. When you go to charge it, it is random at where it decides to stop charging, it does not always go to 84, sometimes it goes to 74 or somewhere in between. Also the leaf depreciates in value very fast. Make sure you negotiate a good deal and check kbb before buying. It makes up for the depreciation with the warranty of the battery plus no maintenance required other than tire changes.
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