Oregon Public Broadcasting

When the first mass market electric cars go on sale this December, dealers in the greater Seattle area and Oregon's Willamette Valley will be among the first to get them.  But will consumers be put off by the price tag? 

Tom Banse has new details on the cost.

Carmaker Nissan announced a suggested sticker price of $32,780 for its new fully electric model called the Leaf.

Federal and state tax credits can knock the price down substantially -- to the $25,000 range.  The four-door, five-passenger compact drives about 100 miles on a full charge.

Portland State faculty member George Beard follows electric car developments closely.  He currently leases a Mini Cooper.  He says he'll consider the electric Nissan next, having just seen the monthly lease cost.

"Is 300 bucks, plus change, fair for one's transportation costs?  And then the ability to just charge it up at your home for four cents per mile, is that a good value proposition?  Well for me, it's worth looking at," Beard said.

A home charging station does cost extra.  That's a couple thousand dollars before tax credits. 

Meanwhile, contractors paid with federal stimulus dollars are getting ready to install thousands of public charging stations in the urban areas of Western Oregon and Washington.