I caught a glimpse of the plug in the commercial. Nissan is really going for it with this car. Hats off to them. I think it's great!

Can't wait to hear the cost and specifications.

i'm getting a little tired of the hype from all these companies. everyone has a hybrid coming, an electric coming, a diesel hybrid. ENOUGH HYPE! thank you toyota for actually giving us a car without the hype.

+1, I agree with the hype on the electric cars (Volt, etc). Just bring them to market.

I don't see it that way. The Leaf will be the first all-electric produced and for sale to the mass market and I'm assuming (hope I'm right) that the Leaf will be freeway capable unlike NEV's. It should be priced well under $40k, maybe under $30k, so to me, this car is significant. And I don't think it will be vaporware, it may be very good. Nissan builds some great cars and I understand the Altima hybrid is very nice and powerful.

The price and reliability will be key.

No ... they've already said it'll be above $30K and maybe (with the battery lease) even higher ... then you get to subtract thousands in fed tax credits. They've already said it'll do freeways. (charging) Infrastructure has already begun as well, in addition to chargers that'll go to folk's homes. But 'mass market' ?? It'll be a limited market as the EV1 & rav4-ev were ... just a few states ... CA ... TN ... and a few others. The wait line begins in April & $100 refundable will get you on it. Better break out your camping gear.


.

I like the idea of the Leaf but i am more interested in the
plug in Prius. Here in central Ohio i am betting the wait to get a leaf would be years. for the average customer in
states like me, say the Dekotas, Montana, Indiana, Kansas, ect we are going to be waiting a long time. So the plug in hybrid is going to be it for most folks in those areas.

hill,

You've raised a valid point; just where will the Leaf be available? I can't
find anything on the Nissan site about this. Will it just be a West Coast
release?

Anybody know?

There are a whole lot of us not on the West Coast who are interested,
but don't want to be played with via a selective, geographically limited
release. Damn it, the ads are being run nationally, the car should be
likewise widely available.

i'm not arguing with the theory. i believe electrics are viable and will become more so with battery technology. i'm just not impressed with the big announcements and shouting from the roof tops. a one off doesn't impress me. they are just trying to generate interest in the label. when it's available, i'll believe it and if it will take me 7 miles to work and back, i'll buy one.

and i agree with mindmachine. the plug in prius is much more viable at this point in time, especially in colder climes.

I think I read at the LEAF site that their loan from the Dept of Energy has them building 150K cars a year in Tennessee.

I don't think they will have a problem selling them. People pay over $30K for a Mini Cooper... and a range of 100 miles (or even 35 miles with a/c and 90 mph driving) is good enough for most people (unless you can only have one car!).

I DO feel your pain. I find five states mentioned in this article:

Electric Car Charging Stations to Be Constructed to Support Nissan LEAF - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com

I think there maybe a few others too.
Maybe it's time to move?

EDIT:
ok, here are some more places you can move to, to qualify to get on the wait list:

Nissan LEAF Electric Car Available in Bay Area (San Francisco) Next Year | AutoNewscast.com

Last paragraph.
I count 5 areas. The rest of you folks will have to be green another way ... like from envy, watching the rest of us go electric ... hoe ... I can feel the smug flowing already.


sorry, I couldn't resist
.

Just some rough calculations...

The Leaf's battery has 24KWh capacity.
They say the circuit needs to be 240v 20A. So you can safely draw about 4KWh from that. Times 4-8 hours is around 16-32KWh.
Of course their charging and usage will baby the battery so it doesnt get too charged, nor discharged. There are also inefficiencies in charging.
In Chicago, 1KWh of electricity costs me (after taxes & fees) about $0.130.
24KWh costs me $3.12. for 100 miles of average use. So aside from things like features, capacity, handling, price, maturity of technology ;-), yada yada... The leaf gets roughly twice the miles/dollar we currently get on a 2010 Gen III.

The funniest question on the leaf site is:

Q: in case of a problem can a (normal) qualified electrician fix a Leaf? is a special training is needed?

rich

4-8hrs is for slow charging. They're working on a fast charge infrastructure too. Turning on whether the discharge is 50%-90% ... you may only be looking at a 20-40 minute re-fill.

.

The Leaf will work perfect for my wife. She has a 2005 Prius now, but nearly all her trips are 5 miles or less from home running errands (she's a stay-at-home mom). Her Prius averages only 40 MPG because of all the short trips where it can't warm up. The Leaf is totally immune to the cold start problem of the Prius. We live in the suburbs in the Houston area so she can charge up the Leaf every night inside the garage, and we are in one of the markets where the Leaf will be sold and serviced. And if she has a longer errand to run, well, she can borrow my 2004 Prius (while I drive her Leaf the 10 miles to work).

The Leaf will get a $7500 tax credit so its cost will be quite reasonable.

I finally caught the ad today on TV (I didn't watch it here first). At first, I thought it was a pretty good feel good ad for Nissan in general so the part about the Leaf at the end caught me by surprise.