Nissan EV is about to be officially announced!

With the onboard IT system, every time you pass a gas station, that
symbol is displayed 3 ft. high on the sides of the car.

If this readout is anything like the one in the Tesla, "Miles remaining"
has to be taken with a grain of salt. In the Tesla, it is calculated based
on average power use. A sudden hankering for high speeds, 70+ MPH,
will deplete the battery very quickly, with dramatic range reduction.

In other threads, it has been suggested that a good rule for pre-trip
power use/mileage estimation is 1/3 to get there, 1/3 to get home,
and 1/3 held in reserve "just in case."

 

Interesting. This car exceeds my needs and actually looks decent. To bad I won't be buying one. Why you might ask? Nissan's sales plan.

Nissan intends to sell the Leaf for the same price as a conventional ICE car. The catch is that you don't get a battery with the car and without their proprietary battery the car is just a chunk of steel and plastic. According to past press releases, Nissan will not sell the battery to customers but instead will only lease it. That leaves any EV customer completely at the mercy of Nissan. You must pay whatever they ask to lease the battery or your car turns back into a lump of metal. While the initial contract may have a set pricing plan what happens when that contract expires. A customer either accepts the next contract or they have an inoperable car.

Considering the last time Nissan made an EV they took them all back and crushed them, there is no way you will convince me to buy the car but lease the battery required to make it move.

Are you listening Nissan?

 

A C-Segment car is called a compact car in the US. Some examples would be the Focus, Cobalt, Civic, Corolla, Jetta, BMW 3-series, MB C-Class, etc.

Considering they say "well equipped" my guess is that the Leaf will be $25,000 to $30,000 plus battery lease.

 

That depends on how old the vehicle is when the battery fails and what condition the vehicle is in. If the vehicle is still serviceable I could:

• Buy a battery from a junkyard.
• If only one or two cells have failed; buy just the cells I need from a junkyard or buy a whole battery and have extra cells to continue to service my battery,
• Have a 3rd party design and install a custom battery pack.

When battery packs are sold to the public the odds of finding a replacement increase greatly. That doesn't even take into account that manufacturers are required by federal law to provide parts for a minimum number of years. I have no idea if that law applies to parts that are leased separate from the vehicle. If Nissan only leases battery packs and decides that EV's aren't for them (again) the customer has to look for a 3rd party solution.

 

2010 Nissan Leaf electric car: In person, in depth -- and U.S. bound — Autoblog

"As stated earlier, the Leaf will probably be initially marketed in those U.S. cities that have committed to building the necessary infrastructure to support EVs – places like Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona; San Diego and Sonoma County in California; Raleigh, North Carolina; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Seattle, Washington. Nissan says it has established 27 partnerships with local governments around the world, and more are on the way. If you're outside of such areas, Nissan says it won't discourage you from becoming an owner/lessee, but obviously home charging will need to be sufficient."

 

A car buyer owning the battery in their EV is just unnecessary and undesirable..

UC Berkeley Study Finds Separate Battery Ownership Accelerates Mass-Market Adoption of Electric Cars - Yahoo! News.

I think this Leaf looks like a winner. Only wish it had more cargo space, like the Prius.

 

That study assumes a network of battery exchange stations that would allow EV drivers to quickly exchange batteries for unlimited range. Though a nice pie-in-the-sky idea, no such network exists.

I know you are a big supporter of Better Places and their idea of building such a network. However, they have only built one demonstration exchange station so far. I believe is is safe to assume that if this vehicle goes on sale in late 2010 it will be without a network of battery exchange stations.

I guess I'm just a old-fashion. I like to buy things, take care of them, and keep them for a long time. I don't currently lease cars so I can't see leasing a battery for a car. Especially from a company that crushed their last batch of EV's.

 

I agree with this. I think a lot of people are taking calling the Nissan EV not mainstream or suggesting it wont reach the mainstream immediately....PERSONALLY, like an affront.

I'm not saying I don't like EV's. I'm not saying people who want one, aren't "mainstream" people or families. I'm just saying as initially presented I don't think the Nissan EV would work as a primary or sole vehicle for most people.

I agree that historically some world changing products went through a process and it could very well be the same with EV's. I'm just saying we will have to go through this process, and there are some improvements and requirements I think would have to be reached before an EV would be a primary choice of a majority of people.

This is no way means if you want an EV, can afford it, and it works for your life that I am accusing anyone of anything. No "hub bub" just seems some people are thin skinned when it comes to not simply raising the flag and immediately crowning Nissans EV a success. Prius took it's developmental and popular "lumps", I'd expect any EV offered as a mainstream vehicle to at least have to go through a similar process.

 

Thanks for the clarification. The announced $25-30,000 price sounded too good to be true compared to the Subaru and Mitsubishi EVs.

For people with a short commute or a charging place at work, a Hymotion Prius sounds like better value to me.

 

Nissan EV (NissanEVs) on Twitter

You can ask your questions here. I tried using their nissanusa.com website, but "Sending question, please wait..." has been showing awhile.

 

I actually think leasing the battery pack makes perfect sense IF that turns out to be the most cost effective way about it.

I'm sure that will prove to be the case if the battery pack turns out to have a shelf life of less than 10 years or if there are sudden leaps in technology resulting in better efficiency.

 

Hi All,

This car would work for me, if eventually an APU (auxiliary power unit) trailer is offered to supply heat/electricity during winter driving. This was the EV2 (3, 4 ?) solution to range and winter usage.

 

25K-30K for an electric car is ok as long as it is a high tech vehicle.

If it's just a mundane car that has the EV designation, it's NOT worth it.

However, it's good to see that advancements are made. That itself is good.

 

So is the glass half-empty or is it half-full? Or have we yet to determine that?.... lol.

That's just a statement in regards to the pessimism I've seen here, ...because when it comes to new vehicle technology I choose to be optimistic. People can argue how old the concept is or how insufficient an EV would be but we'll just argue that there's a lot of advancements and that an EV probably isn't the best thing to have as a sole vehicle, not for the immediate future anyway.

I feel like electric cars are going to happen anyway, and what auto maker gets the most out of it in terms of sales rests largely on which one brings it to market in the best way. Nissan is one of the big (Japanese) 3 so I doubt they're going to invest in something that will just totally flop, though of course you can't totally rule it out.

 

Wow, if true that sounds like a huge mistake. Why advance a car with the idea that you want it to be mainstream and "not a niche" vehicle but then decide to sell it in that manner?

Yes, don't get upset, I know a lot of people in here won't care. But again your general public, non-hybrid crowd is just going to be scared of the idea of buying a car, BUT leasing a battery. To them, it's going to be a joke, like buying a car but leasing the engine. Nissan should rethink this approach.