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Sasha Test Drives Black Jack Nissan Leaf

ZEB is excited to support The Good Car Company and Enova Energy to offer the Northern Rivers community the opportunity to purchase Nissan Leaf's directly from Japan in a Bulk Buy later this month - with the closing date to be sometime in March.  Look here for more details.

Sasha was lucky enough to be offered the chance to test drive Big Jack, the 40kWh ZE1 Leaf (2017-19, 240km range around $37,000) for a week.  Due to a multitude of reasons Sasha doesn't have rooftop solar but this is why not having solar shouldn't hold you back from buying an EV:

If you need to charge your EV at home and you do not yet have rooftop solar, an important consideration is choosing an ethical and renewables-focussed energy retailer. That way when you’re charging from the grid you’re ensuring the energy you’re using for your transport is contributing to the renewables transition.

There is a transition to take place and there’s still a long way to go, however we’re lucky to be able to choose energy retailers that are focussed on renewable energy. Good Car Co has provided this information regarding a study conducted in Europe: When you look at an EV over its entire driving life, this study from Europe shows that a petrol car produces 258 grams co2 per km, whereas a Nissan Leaf powered with renewables produces 73 grams per km. If powered by an energy grid with a large burden of coal power plants (a bit like NSW or Victoria) the Leaf produces 150 grams per km.

In summary, EV’s powered on renewables are at least 4 times less impactful than petrol cars and still outperform petrol cars in terms of emissions reductions, when powered by the grid. This information does not take into account the benefits that EVs have on eliminating air pollution from poisonous emissions caused by petrol fuelled cars.

"I found Big Jack to be a pleasure to drive particularly around our regions windy roads where the really responsive automatic transmission came into its own.  I hardly needed to use the brake at all which was a completely new driving experience and one I highly recommend!  The charging was easy.  Even though I don't use my garage I had no trouble charging the car exactly where I normally park it outside my home - without even needing an extension lead. It is still surreal to think that if I was to keep the car I wouldn't need to pay to fill it up at a petrol station! "

Sasha wonders if petrol stations will all turn into milk bars with a lone bowser for the late adopters of electric vehicles.  The kids still needed an ice cream fix!

 

Live Q & A Workshops will take place in Mullum & Byron later this month and into March - the Mullum ones will take place at the newly crowned Mullumbimby Community Hall (formerly the Mullum Scout Hall). Sasha and her colleague Claire are pictured out the front of the hall standing alongside their respective EV's on Thursday when the Library of Stuff was open.
The Workshops will provide the opportunity for small groups to look, feel and ride in the EV's and have all their questions answered.  Dates & Times will be included in ZEB's e-news out later this week.  Subscribe here to get these straight into your inbox.

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