[Myrddin]

I saw a Leaf pulled up to the front of the Fry's Electronics in San Diego. Plugged into a socket. The owner was compelled to hang around for a few hours as a hostage waiting for his Leaf to be charged enough to leave the store. When it was sufficiently charged, he pulled the charger and hunted down his wife and daughter so they could leave. I'm pretty sure the connection to Fry's power socket was done without permission. The slug even left the weatherproof cover open as he slinked away in his plug-in. Thief.

I've seen a few Leaf's driving around San Diego. Only 2 Volt's thus far.

[Charles Martel]

I'm pretty sure the connection to Fry's power socket was done without permission. The slug even left the weatherproof cover open as he slinked away in his plug-in. Thief.

I've got a hunch that someone out there has started a listing of unattended, hot AC outlet locations. Sort of like the "wardriving" WiFi lists.

Back around 2004 or so, two of those glorifed golf cart type plug-in electric "urban cars" began appearing in my office building's garage. The drivers would arrive very early and park in the spaces by the wall outlets. After a month or so, the weird little cars were no longer seen.

One day I mentioned it in passing to one of the building maintenance guys, who informed me that the management had noticed it too and they killed the power to those outlets. It wasn't so much the electricity cost (a drop in the bucket, in those circumstances) as it was the fact that the drivers didn't ask permission or offer to pay. So, no more electricity for them.

[antiRepublicrat]

For me, a night’s charge at home for the Leaf would easily take care of my commute and any regular errands I run in town. I like the idea in a pure economic sense. I ran the numbers about six months ago, and it came to 99 mpg equivalent at my electricity cost and the price gas was at that point. It would be even better now. All of that driving is city, so regenerative braking and lack of idling in traffic would give me a big boost beyond that. Add maintenance savings cost and giving up the time to do it, and it’s looking pretty tempting.

But that’s specifically for my case. Your Mileage May Vary — literally. It could be a complete non-starter for you.