Comments on: Nissan Previews Its Electric Car, Called by Some a “Volt Fighter”

By: iRoc

iRoc — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 15:21:49 +0000

NISSAN ELECTRIC SEDAN – reveal August 1, 2009.

http://www.nissanusa.com/electric-car/

Boxer only testing the electric drive !

By: KentT

KentT — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:20:52 +0000

The first post said it all, “vaporware.” And 100 mile range? Not viable in the US. Europe and Japan? Great. The US? 200 miles is a minimum range. The US is a big country with everything spread out. ALL electric? A non-starter as an only car. The pure electric vehicle, with 200 mile range, seating for 4, with four doors and a decent trunk and realistic performance (acceleration and top speed) you STILL need fast charging. 80% charge after 5 minutes.

In the US nothing less is volume car. Anything less is a novelty.

Oh, and let’s see if Nissan can build a car with a battery double or triple the size of the Volt’s (AND good for 100,00 miles or 10 years)and sell it for $20,000.

By: hermant

hermant — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:55:14 +0000

Running out of gas is quite different than running out of juice. It takes, what, five minutes to put a full tank of gas into your car. It takes six hours to “refuel” the Volt batteries.

And anyone that thinks that battery capacity is MORE measureable than fuel tank capacity has another thing coming. As an avid RVer, I’ve been living off of batteries from time to time for over two decades. No one, and I mean no one, has a decent, accurate, reliable, dependable means of measuring battery capacity WHILE IN USE. You can always stop, disconnect ALL loads from the battery, let the battery set for a spell, take a voltage reading, extrapolate the relative capacity, then re-engage the battery loads, and finally still run out of juice before the measurements predicted, but that’s just silly! No, I really would prefer to take my chances with an old fashioned tank of petrol and a wooden stick! JMHO.

By: Don

Don — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:27:34 +0000

NIssan is partnered with Agassi’s Project Better Place and is already committed to building EVs for those markets. (So far Israel and Denmark).

Introducing models made to appeal more to American tastes is an easy way to leverage that investment even if the initial uptake is low.

Any uptake at all helps them distribute their fixed costs all the more.

By: Colin

Colin — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 22:49:42 +0000

I am somewhere around #4000 on the wait list on this site. My enthusiasm for the Volt has never waivered. However, I have other obligations like most families, so buying the Volt as it passes the $40K mark will not be something I could do lightly. The 2 nominees seem to be upping one another on a rebate for a PHEV, I have seen $5k and $7k tossed around – so that could take a $35K price to $28k – I could do that ($464/mth – 7yr@6%) – if I could forego the 5 tanks of gas a month I use now (12Gal @ $4 x 5 = $240) so really it would be a little over $220 with that senario.

On the other hand, a limited range EV, in a quality offering, at a great price would be something to look at. Plus the tax incentive would also apply. What do I do now if I am low on gas – stop at nearest station. What would I do in an EV? Same thing, how long would it take to discover where I could stop and charge at. Time? It takes less than 10 minutes to stop and fill up with gas, I would have no issue waiting 15-20 minutes to get enough charge to get home, plus I know I saw that there were chargers that could do a rapid charge – they are expensive – but savvy service station owners will make them available.

How about running out of juice in an EV? I have run out of gas before – not fun, just because there is a gas station on every corner does not make it easier. Do you carry a gas can? Full or empty? Does the gas station you walked 3 miles to offer you a can to borrow? Can you ask a store owner or a local homeowner for some gas if walking to a station is not an option? Maybe, but I would pack the equivilant of a syphon hose in my trunk – a 100′ extension cord, I am sure an offer of $5 for a 30 minute plugin would be easier to find then borrowing some gas.
PLUS, if the difference does happen to be $10k less, I could put up 2KW of solar panels (after incentives) with the savings. I am a Volt fan – but you have to be practical.