Instead of DG Leaf it may have to be Th!nk City DG Leaf. At the National Plugin Day my son and I had lots of test drives. One of the fun ones was the Th!nk City.
It's a two seater hatchback similar to a Smart but a little more solid looking. ABS plastic - sort of a nordic IKEA looking design. Originally the Nordic design was bankrolled by Ford to the tune of 120 million. The DOE had loans in too. The company has been in and out of bankruptcy which is scary, but allows for a very interesting gamble. It's currently on again and the dealer and company are currently honoring warranties etc. They claim there will be a 2013 - the dealer says they have an order in.
The 2011 cars are being sold cheap to clear the decks. Assembled in Elkhart, IN with US made batteries ( Another company in and out of hock ) this 2 seater has the same size battery - 24kwh as the Leaf !
MSRP 36,145 ( tells you why they are having issues..)
$22,968 upfront - no MD tax, thats with 200 dealer prep and tag/title/registration.
$15,468 after Fed $7500 rebate - For a highway 80 mile, city 100 mile range car.
( I'll report back as I real world test these. )
Electric ! A Leaf was $39K when you added in all the dealer crud. Better deals available today with electric model year changeover and slow down. The Leaf is quite a luxury electronics showroom vs plain Jane Th!nk.
But 15.5K??? I'm all in. Yes at some point in the future the EVA/DC club members that have been snapping them up, may be maintaining them like Delorean's after that company disappeared. That is in my opinion less of a challenge with an electric.
More to come! The new Glotfelty family one is red.
A couple videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=rMWZpSXsqJY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGxGvkb7KxM
In red:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=H4ntT3DGOf0&feature=endscreen
Dave
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