Chicagoland car buyers are getting their wish; Nissan is moving up the selling date of their all electric Nissan Leaf in local Illinois Nissan Dealers. One of the most sought after new cars for sale on the market today due to its zero emissions and lack of dependency on fossil fuels.
How sought after is the Nissan Leaf? The City of Chicago has spent a small fortune installing over two hundred charging stations throughout the city for a car you cannot even buy outside of local Nissan dealers in California. An investment cost to the tune of over a million dollars in a bid to lure more 2011 electric cars to Chicago.
Show Me the Money
An attractive feat for would be owners, but why is Nissan jumping ahead to bring the leaf to car dealerships in Illinois? In part because of the money. The $7,500 federal tax credit has long been a sweet lure to bring electric cars to any state, but Illinois has sweetened the pot further by offering an additional $4,000 in new car rebates to purchasers of an electric vehicle.
What's in it for the buyers? The Leaf is appealing over other new cars for sale because the electricity it uses is much cheaper per a mile than you would pay even driving a 40 MPG car. A cost savings so great, it test have estimated it close to 100 MPG if you were to compare it to traditional gasoline cars.
The Gauntlet Ahead
There is one major hurdle now for the Leaf coming to car dealerships in Illinois, and that is that unlike the near idle weather much of California enjoys, Nissan and future Leaf owners will have to see how 2011 electric cars handle the less than ideal weather of the Midwest.
Will the Leaf be able to handle the ice and snow as easily as it vanquished the surf and sun? Unlikely, and there are likely to be some rough patches ahead for drivers trading in their 40 MPG cars for an all electric car running on a battery pack. Still, Nissan will have to conquer such elements if it hopes to bring their idea of the future to the rest of us. Here's to hoping all those new car rebates on electric cars helps Chicagoans sleep better at night through the growing pains.