Nissan Leaf vs Prius

Not so many years ago, Nissan's Ghosn trashed the Toyota Prius as a marketing stunt, arguing that Toyota was losing money on each car built.

I love karma.

As for 100 mile EV cars, I think they are a sweet spot for 10s of millions of consumers. Exurb residents with 30 - 50 mile one-way commutes are an obvious group, as are soccer moms who drive 15,000 - 25,000 miles with their guzzlers each year. Otoh, a 5 year battery life is going to scare away every consumer who wants the Leaf's cost of ownership to be somewhere close to that of a guzzler. They do *not* have to be cheaper, but they cannot be double or more and expect more than enthusiast participation. Toyota stood behind it's (then) new NiMH battery tech with a 150k mile warranty, and a corporate promise that the battery would last the life of the vehicle. I think Nissan will have to do the same or find that for the most part people will only lease the Leaf, and the company will be stuck with 3 year old cars.

I personally do not trust Nissan the engineering company, the way I trust Toyota or Honda. And for the sake of the Leaf, I hope it has no shared components with Renault. So I'll sit on the sidelines for now; but I promise, I'll be cheering!

I wonder how much the Leaf is going to eat into Volt sales -- assuming the latter makes it to market in any sizeable numbers. I suspect enough to turn the Volt into a stillborn, even more than it already is. The Leaf strikes me as a vastly superior EV car, while the Prius kills it as a hybrid. Being expensive, but not really good at anything just does not sound like a winning commercial.

 

?? What is a "very limited vehicle" exactly? I have neighbors who own Escalades. And that vehicle is their "town car." It stays in a 20 mile radius of home. Seven days a week, 365 days per year. When they to out of town, they either take the Hummer or the Expedition.

Now... Is the price of an Escalade a better price to pay for a car that is used for sub 20 mile trips? And talk about limite? Every try to park an Escalade in a crowded city?

You may have forgotten than Toyota has already build an EV that was ready for prime-time. And they did it in 1996. And I'm still driving one.

Indeed. They're pretty wonderful in practice as well.

Awesome that it is happening this year, isn't it??

Maybe they were competing with the Prius??

 

Yes!

Yeah, I'm not sure we've got apples and apples here. If you don't accept five passengers in the LEAF, then you certainly can't accept seven in the S. And if you DO stuff seven in the Leaf (two of them children that would easily fit in the 5th seat of the Leaf) then your "extra cargo room" idea is shot.

Anyway, I know what you're getting at, I just don't think it is fair to short the Leaf on size... like so many want to do to the "micro car" Prius.

 

oh i have no issues at all with the size of the Leaf. i make do with my 2 seat Zenn now. about 70% of the time, it will be just me or me and my son. family excursions around town will be the only time we need a back seat.

 

Oooh. that's a great chart. Thanks, Evan.

Yeah, I saw the cargo area in the video as well. Tough to tell size without context - but it didn't appear as big as the Prius. Big shelf up to the folded rear seats (instead of hidden bin under the flat floor like in the Prius.) That configuration will likely make it harder to easily carry two fully-assembled bicycles in the back thusly:

 

- I have to take umbridge my friend. The Leaf is EXACTLY like the Prius, in this regard, and EXACTLY like EVERY piece of transportation in this regard, because NO car is for everyone. If they were ... we'd all be driving the same:

Suburban
Caddie
Fiat
Expedition
Fiesta
Barracuda
Vette
Station Wagon
Harley
(your dorky/impractical choice here)

 

EXCELLENT point!!!

 

Oh . . . and don't ask me where I found this document ... but it's (downloadable) more Leaf detail:

http://www.mwcog.org/uploads/committee-documents/a15ZXF5X20100316100552.pdf

Didn't see it posted any where else.

 

So what you're saying... but with lots more words... is that he's spot-on correct with the bullet item. The Leaf (like every other form of transportation) is not for everybody. Now, give the poor guy his umbridge back!

And what you're saying with just two words is that more words is better than one bullet item.

OK, ok. So flog me with a rubber hose. No really. I might like it.

 

Myself, I was thinking a RAV4 EV charging cord...

 

Those things are surprisingly hard and unpleasant to be hit with.

 

I suspect that rubber hoses are very unpleasant to be hit with, also.

 

No. Hill and I are pointing out a subtle distinction: that it's not ONLY the Leaf that's not for everyone. Too many people overlook the fact that gas cars have many shortcomings as well.

 

Unless it's done by a woman wearing black PVC and very high heels. Did I just say that out loud? Oops.

Tom

 

Well, duh. I was mostly just upset that you guys beat me to saying it. So I had to come up with some way to beat you down quickly.

Exactly. Sheesh, Daniel. No wonder you can't get the babes.

 

There are activities that sound like fun when one is daydreaming about them, but which I strongly suspect would be less fun in reality. Of course there are women who specialize in the application of manageable amounts of pain, but I'm not aware of any here in Spokane.

 

Latest news is that things are getting better here... until next time

 

Speaking of Louisiana.. I'm currently researching both the Leaf and Prius PHV.. One thing that swings in the direction of the PHV is the fact that unfortunately when a hurricane comes through, we have no electricity for quite a while....