Next Gen Plug-In

Yeah it might be a little on the low side but then again it has the benefit of being a known brand and the car will continue as a 'normal' Prius once the electric range has been used. I also believe it will be significantly cheaper than the EV's.

 

Each has its place:

Leaf for those able to charge within the expected driving range, and having another car available (or willing to rent) for longer trips.

PHEV Prius for those needing one car for both short commutes/errands and more frequent longer trips.

Regular Prius for those who cannot usually plug in and/or who drive longer distances regularly.

Volt for those seeking a collectible rare specimen that doesn't exist. Just kidding, sort of. Volt will appeal to some who fit within its 30ish real world AER yet want the freedom to hit the highway for low to mid 30s mpg (the GM dream mpg).

One size does not fit all.

 

But doesn't the Leaf require you to 'rent' the batteries at £100 ($130) a month? Add that to the cost of the car/finance.

 

Cabbie, Nissan has decided against that, they are going to sell the batteries with the car, at least they will in the US, the rest of the world, who knows.

Nissan LEAF Electric Car | Battery | Nissan USA

and this too

http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/battery.jsp#/news

 

toyota has the real track record. so far, everyone else is a pretender. when electric cars are viable, they will be a contender. they will not be popular until there is technology and infrastructure to drive like you can in a liquid fueled vehicle. by that time toyota will be there with whoever else manages to overcome. in the meantime, the prius phev will be the best of both worlds. and range will gradually increase with battery tech.

 

bisco, EV's are a "disruptive" technology, like cell phones have been to the telcos, you can't assume anything with regard to who will come out on top, it's a whole new industry launching. The one with the best/lowest cost battery technology will be far far ahead of the others, Nissan has spent a lot of money / time developing their batteries, that clearly gives them a huge advantage at the moment. Toyota is no slouch, but they are clearly waiting for a technology to emerge, and don't seem to be putting large $'s into battery research, at least not that we have heard of publicly.

The charging infrastructure is important, but with a 100 mile range, becomes less so. do your roundtrip driving, and plug it in to your house/garage at night. No, you won't be driving cross country with one anytime soon. The cost of the batteries will determine the in large part the price of the vehicle, and if they are truly viable/cost effective, and can compete.

 

I think they'll also have to overcome the 'worry' factor out there with joe public. My gf has a 2008 Honda Civic which she is looking to replace either March this year or more likely 2011. I showed her the Leaf trying to get her excited by it saying it would be ideal for her as she does about 40 miles a day round town for her job. She doesn't like the 100 mile range - period. I tried asking why? how can it be a problem when she never does more than 40 miles a day? Her response - I drive to London twice a year to see family and I couldn't in that car. I suggested using mine or renting one for a longer trip (only twice a year) but despite the logic of the argument which she understands, she still doesn't like the idea of an electric car wth a 100 mile range.

Probably something Nissan doesn't want to hear. I wonder how many more people in the target band for this type of car would feel the same? I hope it does work for Nissan as it will be disasterous for EV's if the Leaf should fail.

 

No one is sure now about the EV range for the consumer version of Prius plug-in expected to be available late 2011.

Ken@Japan

 

agreed, but what do we really know about nissan battery technology besides their "claims"?

 

Well BISCO, they show pictures of the 48 modules, each module with 4 removable packs on their website, and talk about their flat pack lithium-ion battery technolgy. They claim to be able to get 24KW of power in the Leaf, time will tell. I think they are for real. They have also had battery research going on for a long time (20 years), and they will be producing the batteries in their own plant, so they will have total control.

I believe the Leaf will be the first production EV of the modern era, made by a major mfr (yes I know about the Tesla, and several others, I did say major mfr). We know from the past that GM can't be counted on, or taken seriously.

Time will tell the story

Nissan LEAF Electric Car | Nissan USA Official Site

watch the video, their battery plant will be in Smyrna, TN, also an advantage because the batteries will be produced in the US, lowering freight costs as well as providing US jobs.

 

Prius faced fear as well, but as people see more and more on the road, that falls away. Same for BEVs, is my guess.

 

agreed, time will tell. i am skeptical of a company that makes all these claims out of the blue. bandwagon jumpers, i think. hope i'm wrong!

 

it's been a good ten year ride in the u.s., longer in japan, and that's for a vehicle that drives almost like a classic. plugging in at night and restricted distances will take even longer. wait til people start running out of juice on the road, triple a will be booming!

 

No problem, Triple A could have a few specialized vehicles in each area they serve, it would be a 50KW 3-phase, 480VAC generator mounted on a truck, with the Nissan Leaf Fast Charger, that can charge a Leaf in 30 minutes to %80 capacity. This would only happen in high density Leaf areas, I wouldn't expect it to be widely available initially.
They are also talking abut deploying them for fleets, so they might be able to tow you to a nearby fleet charging facilty as well, yeah, you won't want to make a habbit of running out of power.

Or they could simply tow you home, and you plug it into your Home Charger (240VAC), that can charge the vehicle in 3 hours. Or if all else fails, you plug into a nearby 120VAC outlet and go see a movie while you get enough charge to drive home.

If you have Triple A Plus, they will tow you up to 100 miles, sounds like a perfect match to Leaf owners

There is a solution to every problem

 

Hi Ken -

Have you heard if there will be any limit to how much the battery can be recharged by regenerative features? With the current model when I go down a long hill the battery shows a full charge after about 2-3 miles. Lots of hills around here are *much* long then that - it would be interesting to know if there was anything in the vehicle to would prevent it from fully charging up the battery again if the downhill was long enough.

I could imagine a design where the full 12 mile range (or whatever it turns out to be) can be drawn down and recharged under particular driving conditions, and can also imagine a design where battery will act pretty much like the current model once you run it down - with the only way to restore full charge being a plug.

It's going to be exciting to see exactly what comes out and to see how the Leaf and Volt actually perform.

 

Intersting point. There are a couple hills near me that fully charge my Prius now (hope it will be ok long term?), but with the plug in Prius (or other EV) would such a long descent actually be a good thing?

 

I for one will be watching how it all unfolds... I do see myself one day in some type of hybrid/plug in/EV..

It will be interesting to sit back and watch over the next few years (as I save my pennies for it ) how it all plays out...

I hope a few things happen:

1. The overall price of hybrid cars will start to come down even more.
2. The "electric infrastrature" will be put in place, and make EVs viable for most..

Among other things... gonna be fun..