Looking for Those Ages 55 or Older Who Are Interested in the Leaf

[jhalpert]

I'm writing an article for Newsweek.com on seniors interested in purchasing environmentally friendly vehicles. As part of that, I'd like to explore the appeal of vehicles like the Leaf among those ages 55 or older. If you have plans to purchase the Leaf, or at least consider purchasing it, please e-mail me by late Monday at: [email protected]'d like to know your name, age, where you live, your occupation or if you're retired, and why the Leaf appeals to you. Thanks!

[audtatious]

Good deal. Welcome to NICO.

If the staff here can help you, let us know. As things stand right now the leaf itself is new and a lot of people are just now starting to look at the car as a viable product. You may also run into some issues with the 55+ demographic not being very "net aware".

[relytgerg]

On the contrary. I am very net aware and have responded to the post.

A 55+ Nissan Leaf fan.

[srellim234]

I'm 55 and very interested in green vehicles, but unfortunately the range isn't there yet for us as a family car. We take too many trips to San Diego, Palm Springs, and we've had five cross country trips in the last four years.

Within the last few months my 83 year old dad gave up driving so I'm starting to put more miles on the car running the 25+ miles to my parents' house, running them around town and then getting back here for my second shift as a crossing guard.

Hybrid is the way we're going have to go with our next car unless they make battery swapping or 15 minute recharges at service stations mainstream.

[relytgerg]

Your other option is the Chevy Volt range extended electric vehicle. The first 40 miles on pure electric followed by the gas engine kicking in to generate the needed electricity to keep going. Unlike a hybrid, which is a gasoline powered car with electric assist, the Volt is a pure electric drive system. The gasoline engine only generates electricity, it does not connect to the drive train. A good site for information about this vehicle is gm-volt.com (which is not run by GM).

[srellim234]

By the time we are going to be in a position to get the next vehicle I expect there to be a lot more options than the Volt.

In this area I don't know of a GM dealer I woud trust to touch my car and until the Volt is on the market for a few years I wouldn't trust it anyway. Let them work the kinks out of it first.