Santa Maria -
Linda Ashworth has waited nearly a year to power up her new electric car.
"I first put in my reservation on April 20th of last year, so its been a long, long wait."
The wait was worth it, especially at a time when gas prices are topping out at more than $4.00 a gallon here on the Central Coast.
"I drive back and forth between Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo and so it's a fairly short commute," she adds, "It's sort of the perfect little commute car."
The Nissan Leaf is one hundred percent electric and can travel one hundred miles before it needs to re-power.
Linda had a dock like this one installed in her garage. When the car needs more juice she just has to plug it in. Because she has solar panels on her home, she will actually be powering this car with the sun.
If cutting down carbon emissions and fuel costs isn't incentive enough, Linda will receive a Five thousand dollar state rebate and 75 hundred dollars from the federal government, for using solar technology to power the Leaf.
Santa Maria Nissan is the first dealer on the Central Coast to sell the Leaf. The car is only available online, and is currently on backorder.
Nissan General Manager, Jim McCarty says, "we have a lot of customers who are still waiting for theirs, but we are also excited about getting this first one delivered."
Linda hopes she can inspire other drivers to follow in her tracks.
