Gasoline engines get their best mileage when driven at a constant speed on the freeway, but their mileage is much lower with stop-and-go city driving. The LEAF, on the other hand, is at its best with stop-and-go driving when the regenerative braking really shines and when you're not wasting a lot of gas idling in traffic.
When fully charged, my LEAF can travel roughly 100 miles around town; so when I pull out of my garage in the morning I have about the same potential city range as my Lexus does when it starts the day with the gas tank half full.
So if you're trying to decide whether the LEAF's 100-mile range is enough for your normal driving, just ask yourself if you typically use more than half a tank of gas during a day of driving. If you do, then the LEAF may not be for you.
However, if you normally fill your car with gas only once a week, then you'll never have to worry about running out of charge in your LEAF. Even if you fill your gasoline car as often as every 3-4 days, odds are the LEAF's 100-mile range will probably never be an issue for you.
Based on my experience so far, it's doubtful I'll ever find myself running really low on charge; but were that ever to occur it's a no-brainer to simply drive home, plug in the LEAF, and drive the Lexus while the LEAF recharges.
In fact, I think the only battery issue I'm ever likely to have won't be with the LEAF's battery at all, it'll be trying to keep the Lexus battery charged when it's being driven so little. As I said before, even though the LEAF can easily make the 50-mile, 70mph round-trip to the Austin airport, I'll be using the Lexus as my airport car only to exercise it and keep its battery charged.
I should make one a comment about my Lexus IS350. It's absolutely the finest internal combustion automobile I've ever owned. I probably won't sell it for many years because I still need it for long trips, but I'll won't be using it for local driving ever again.
I love my LEAF!
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