GregD

Not what you think, and probably not what you'd expect from a 991 and 1972 911 owner with gas in his veins.. And yet !

Still, after on the same day, eating a pothole with the 991 and having a homeless dude throw an empty beer can at my car (for no reason I swear, just bitterness), I decided I needed a beater..

VW was nice enough to lease me this 2016 electric thing for free, basically...
($140/mo largely made up with gas savings, bridge savings, HOV access, a PGE rebate) - all I'm paying seems to be insurance and some electrons (not many, and even that is fcovered by another rebate for now)...

Comfy, zippy (200 lb/ft at 0 RPM), utterly quiet, and a fun way to discover that new tech, regen modes, and KW/H, and chargers... better optioned than my 991 too (carplay is cool, the app that allows to preheat or pre-cool the cabin, or remote lock or locate the car on a map is even cooler) Now when I sit in my 991 it's damn special again (it also helps Porsche replaced my door panels, its special in a good way now)

For grins, since it's electric, white, and carries groceries, we dubbed it "the fridge" so I stuck a nice frigidaire badge on it ;-) I seem to have a thing for white cars (but that one was all I could get)

Code

Interesting choice! I hope it treats you well. BTW, I sense you have an affinity for white cars.

BradB

Love it!

CSK 911 C4S

Did your neighbors shame you into getting a e-vehicle?

I give Prius owners a thumbs up and thank them for their supply of fuel they are not using.

GregD

No shaming required, the Frigidaire badge works - I also don't hug trees very often...

I needed a beater, I hate Prii, and I saw those VW pop up all over my neighborhood. I was wondering why, so I researched and figured out they were more or less free cars at the moment... I like free... Limited range for sure (only 90 miles safely), not good for everyone for sure, but for my 40 mi daily commute it's perfect and surprisingly fun! Just putting it out there in case someone here needs a free beater (gotta be Cali, those rebates are not happening elsewhere)... That said I need to take out the 72 this week end or it's going to sulk !

The amusing thing is I am now annoyed when using the brakes on the 991 that it does not have a regen mode, like a F1 KERS system, so that I could store some energy as a boost when needed ;-) Brakes are so 20th century ! ;-) Fun experiment for practically no money. I sound like an Ad for VW now, I'll shut up... 3 shades of white at the house, it's nuts !

StormRune

I saw an article just this morning describing how Californian's could manage to lease electric vehicles almost for free. Wow!

http://jalopnik.com/the-home-of-the-...war-1793566650

Nice stable you have going there! I'm sure Mr Clean is jealous.

GregD

Yup, it's timely, no joke... If I qualified for ALL the rebates I might be making a profit but in my case it's close to break even (insurance kills the deal)...

Hey I have an orange bimmer, it's not all white ;-)

MrTim

that's great.
keep in mind, if you cool down the car, it's going to kill your mileage, so don't expect 90 miles on that charge.
Love your cars BTW, well porsches that is.

MJG911

nice! Nissan ran a special a few years back here in Georgia when we also had a state income tax credit that made leasing a Leaf free. Georgia became the #1 state for Leaf sales for that period of time. Several of my friends had them, but I think I would rather have the e-golf.

Gus_Smedstad

I'm not seeing the math. Basically, that article quotes the automotive trade group making that claim, but unless someone's hiding an incentive, the figures are nowhere near free.

They specifically mention $7,500 in federal tax credits, $2,500 in state credits, and maybe another $1,500 in income-assistance credits (which probably wouldn't apply to anyone here, hah). $11,500 all told is a lot less than the price of any electric car on the market. The "cheap" ones are about $30k - like a Leaf or Greg's e-Golf.

Greg mentions it being "free," but it's not really. It's $140 / month, plus some relatively low operating costs. If we pretend a comparable gasoline car would run $280 / month between the lease and operating expenses, that'd make Greg's car cheaper, but not free. If I have a phone bill of $15 / month, that's half the cost of my neighbor's $30 / month, but not free.

It's worth noting that the biggest incentive they mention is Federal, and available to anyone, not just Californians.

Electric cars do interest me. I owned a 2015 Panamera S e-Hybrid for about 18 months, and got $4,500 in federal tax credits for it - which barely made a dent in the sticker price, of course. Eventually I decided I couldn't live with a big station-wagon like sedan as a daily driver, and traded it in for a 2014 991 4S.

STG

Nice that taxpayers and near bankrupt states are the ones footing the "bill/incentives" for these golf carts. I'd be pretty upset if I lived in one of these states and was subsidizing these leases.

The homeless guy should be throwing empty beer cans at these middle/upper class taxpayer subsidized feel good dorm fridges on wheels. That should be the angst of his anger as well as others.

Just saying ....