In a few hours 2013 will be history and 2014 promises to be fraught with new setbacks, challenges, status quo's and legacy somethings and whatever. But its also the end of December which means this is the December 2013 Drive report.
Lots of changes to report. I have added a 1999 Corolla for journeys my LEAF cannot make. The cost was $2573.47. It came with half a tank of gas and I did do an oil change on it for $23.92 so hoping to justify the price of the car based on its primary purpose of driving it for work.
But that was not the only change made. I terminated the lease on my 2011 LEAF with less than 400 miles left of its 45,000 lease (with a month to go) and promptly leased a 2013 S trim with charge package, floor mats and mud flaps. There was no down payment and its $245.75 a month all of which I expect to pay for with my mileage allowance from work (along with the Corolla's cost)
The LEAF(s) drove 1216 miles for at a cost of $29.83 and that included no paid public charging but did have 67 kwh from eight fast charge and two L2 events. 488.7 of those miles came on the 2013 bringing the odometer to a ripping 526 miles (it had to be imported from another dealer to get my color so it came with 28.3 miles on it)
The Corolla, thanks to two trips to the Olympic Peninsula and a few to the far end of Highway 18, logged 948 miles which is more than I expect to normally drive the car BUT... In closing out the driving log for the 2011 LEAF, the one thing I realized is that I put over 17,000 on the LEAF in 2013. Now, considering my increasing my LEAF driving for work did not happen until nearly the end of February means the Corolla might have to be driven more simply to keep me within a reasonable distance of my 15,000 mile per year lease. Gas cost (remember I started with half a tank for free) was $63.69.
Mileage reimbursement from work (tax free) was $331.83 keeping in mind that this is logged not as I drive it but as I get paid for it. The reimbursement is based on local gas prices so it changes a lot. It just recently went down based on the price drop we saw here about 5 weeks ago. Gas is back on the rise so as usual, work is behind the times...
On both cars, I will be tracking a total TCO which will include all costs (not including bling items...) to operate the vehicles with the exception of insurance since coverage's are not equal so will be interesting to see how the cents per mile converge as we get a few more miles on the cars. Just for kicks; after a month, my Corolla's TCO is running at $3.88.6 cents per mile.
So, I guess by now you are wondering how do I increase my gas mileage? The Corolla's last tank of gas came in at 41.8 MPG which is great in the best of circumstances but in the middle of Winter?? especially with over a week with temps in the teens? Well the reasons are easy. The Corolla ONLY does freeway driving. So its expected to be on the high end of the spectrum. To compare; the 2012 Yaris which is rated higher by the EPA (using same test) is running around 33-36 mpg in mixed driving.
So to get better gas mileage, get an EV!!
Happy New Years All!
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