One year ago today I took a plunge and traded my TSX for the all-electric Nissan Leaf. It was not an easy decision - keeping a well-running older car is always better financially, and even though I was following the battery technology for awhile (or maybe because of that), I was not a 100% sure it would work out.
I'm happy to report that the first year of driving was extremely uneventful. I didn't get stranded, didn't run out of juice in the middle of the trip (although I had to take my wife's car to work on two occasion because I forgot to plug mine in the night before). The car drives just like any other, only better. Very quiet, no vibrations, very linear acceleration and deceleration. Love the heated steering wheel and listening to Pandora through Bluetooth.
Everybody is asking about my electric bill. It went up ~$20/month. I used to spend ~$100 a month on gas. Dominion switched us to an experimental tiered rate plan, so I charge at 5c/kWh, but my peak rate is 16c. It works out a tiny bit to my advantage, maybe $5/month compared to the flat rate.
Surprisingly (or not) the Leaf changed the way I drive. I used to drive stick, traffic lights and traffic jams were annoying me beyond reason. I almost felt how the clutch was wearing out. Now I almost feel how the energy from slowing down gets saved in the battery. I started picking more direct routes on slower streets, and the stress level went well down for me. Driving is almost a Zen experience now.
The field changed a lot in this year. There's not only an excellent Volt and mediocre iMev that were selling back then, but also Prius Plugin, Ford C-Max Energi, electric Honda Fit and Ford Fusion, Toyota RAV4 and BMW ActiveE. Almost every manufacturer has either a plug-in hybrid, or a fully electric car (although not all of them are available nationally, and some can only be leased). Deals also became better, especially leases on Volt and Leaf, sometimes down to $200/month. So if anybody is on the fence - the time to start driving on electrons may very well be now.