Sometimes people complain when we don’t cover only the Chevy Volt here, but this site is also about the bigger issue of electrification of the automobile. The Volt, in part spurred on by us, has in part ushered in a wave of electric cars by many automakers.
The Nissan LEAF is particularly important among them because it will be vying for sales from us early adopters and its company and CEO are promising high volume mass production.
This week in Japan, Nissan is for the first time ever, allowing journalists to test drive pre-production LEAFs. This is similar but far behind to what GM has been doing with the Volt over the last many months.
Hans Greimel of Automotive News is among the first to publish his experience.
He noted the car is to accelerate from 0 to 60 in just under 10 seconds, but found it “deceptively easy to clip along at 60 mph without even trying.” He called the car’s silence “deafening,” and found it so easy to get to high velocity because of the lack of transmission shifts and other engine noise as speed indicators.
Because the car was so silent, Nissan has equipped it with a startup chime as well as pedestrian noises (that we already heard). He said the pedestrian noises cannot be heard in the cabin, fortunately.
Greimel noted that Nissan only has four pre-production vehicles at the present moment, and he drove one of them. This seems an oddly low number, because although the LEAF is to go into production in December and the Volt November, GM already has more than 400 pre production Chevy Volts.
Greimel also found out the optional solar panel rear spoiler can only trickle charge the 12v lead acid battery used for windshield wipers and electric windows. It is not connected to the 24 kwh lithium pack.
Embarrassingly, and possibly telling of Nissan’s rush into this arena, the journalist did experience minor glitches in the pre-production unit. The joystick knob, for example, could not be placed in neutral, even when the Nissan engineer tried it. Also the iPhone remote charging app could not connect to the server and its demonstration had to be scrapped.
In terms of driving quality Griemel said “the Leaf glided noiselessly and effortlessly around Nissan’s proving ground.”
He summed the situation up this way “the question is whether customers will accept a certain amount of range anxiety in exchange for a clean, peppy, futuristic car.”
Source (Automotive News)
Below is a video of Wall Street Journal reporter Yoshio Takahashi at the wheel:
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 12:39 pm and is filed under BEV, Competitors, Test drive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
+8
Jun 15th, 2010 (12:48 pm)This is exciting news, I am glad to hear such positive words from the press on an electrically powered vehicle. This will only give more credibility and marketability to the volt once it is released.
Looking forward to my volt… 2013…
+14
Jun 15th, 2010 (12:51 pm)I can’t believe Nissan will have this on the market by the end of the year. Maybe the middle of next year at best. I think Nissan was, or is banking on Volt having production start up problems. Hoping that they can release the Leaf before the Volt. If the Volt can be first to market and then proves out to be “as advertised”, the Leaf buyers will migrate to Volt. If, and only if, Volt has a major hiccup, then Nissan is back in the game. I think GM has spent a lot of time and effort to ensure that does not happen.
+5
Jun 15th, 2010 (12:53 pm)“the question is whether customers will accept a certain amount of range anxiety in exchange for a clean, peppy, futuristic car.”
Groundbreaking reporting there. Give that guy a Pulitzer.
Lyle, I for one like when you report on other EV’s. I wouldn’t want you to spend more time than you currently do on them, but it’s good to get info on the other electric cars that, along with the Volt, will begin a huge transformation in the automobile industry.
+7
Jun 15th, 2010 (1:03 pm)Good news on the pedestrian warning noises not being audible in the cabin, very cool! My neighbors may hate me when I go to work early in the morning, but I won’t have to tolerate it!
But only having 4 pre-production cars? That can’t be right. Not if Nissan is going to start building cars this year. The can’t have done any crash testing and with the quality of build issues (not getting the demo vehicle into neutral is kind of embarrassing) being so noticeable, I think Nissan will only have a teathered release of limited numbers of vehicles this year. Heck, it is June, less than 7 months left in the year. 0-60 mph in less than 10 seconds is cool, not neck snapping but not a shortfall, either.
All in all, an ‘OK’ for Nissan, not an overwhelmingly positive report. I think Ghosn is blowing smoke, and GM is doing the opposite, I just hope both companies build a ton of cars, soon.
+10
Jun 15th, 2010 (1:13 pm)I can’t help but get the impression that Nissan is pushing the Leaf out the door far too soon, just to get a leg up on the Volt. On the other hand, the Volt appears to be so solidly tested, that when the eventual comparison is made, the Leaf will come off as shabby next to the Volt. That sort of bad first impression may end up hamstringing the Leaf in the years to come.
+14
Jun 15th, 2010 (1:16 pm)Nissan has been scoring ‘points’ for getting a large number of pre-orders and planning a large initial production; something we wish GM would do.
On the other hand, only having four test cars *and the very first one they let a reporter drive had a mechanical problem* seems to say the Leaf isn’t really ready for production.
I prefer GM’s cautious “do it right” approach over Nissan’s aggressive “do it fast” approach…
Jun 15th, 2010 (1:31 pm)Only four pre-production cars with showroom doors opening up in a matter of months? I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised considering how much faith is involved with the LEAF and how little fact there has been. Nevertheless, it is great to at least see something that looks and feels like the finished product.
Jun 15th, 2010 (1:31 pm)On the other side of the news:
http://green.autoblog.com/2010/06/15/wheego-now-accepting-pre-orders-for-32-995-life-electric-car/1#c28659109
Statik, it appears the Weego will be available sooner than the LEAF, does this means you are getting one?
Jun 15th, 2010 (1:35 pm)He summed the situation up this way “the question is whether customers will accept a certain amount of range anxiety in exchange for a clean, peppy, futuristic car.”
Nope.
Jun 15th, 2010 (1:38 pm)Because the car was so silent, Nissan has equipped it with a startup chime as well as pedestrian noises (that we already heard). He said the pedestrian noises cannot be heard in the cabin, fortunately.
I’m very curious about this one. If the noise is in front, how is it that he can’t hear it?
It certainly sounded loud enough to be heard in the car.
How are the blind drivers going to know a LEAF is coming in their direction?
+3
Jun 15th, 2010 (1:40 pm)“Also the iPhone remote charging app could not connect to the server and its demonstration had to be scrapped.”
NOOOOO!!!!
Too much crap in the cars!!!!
Jun 15th, 2010 (1:41 pm)I just knew it, this is looking like typical signs of trying to get to market too quick. I do not know why Nissan is so intent on getting this thing done so fast, seem they are too cocksure of themselves.
But I wont say that without saying they have been testing electric vehicles for a number of years (but not in the original 1990′s ev fling. Yet never have they released a vehicle to the public, just a bunch of low run engineer only models in mid 2000. And those models had been just conversions with pretty typical results.
Nissan had a similar engineer model to the Leaf, it was stated to get 120miles on the LA4 cycle and yet performed near exactly to the reported Leaf numbers. Seems the Leaf may have to be downgraded to a city car.
This can only strengthen GM’s motive to add the range-extender, if you want an actual car to go ANYWHERE, buy a VOLT!
Jun 15th, 2010 (1:47 pm)Great Gooogley MooogleY!
Over $32,000.00 for a 2 seater that goes no further than the LEAF? I’ll take the LEAF.
Man, WTF they smokin at Wheeeeego?
//for $26,000.00 before any incentives, I’d seriously consider it but not at the price they want.
//did they even know about the LEAF when they announced the price?…. lol
-25
Jun 15th, 2010 (1:47 pm)(click to show comment)
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (1:49 pm)This is the problem of showing pre-production models to the public.. you get embarrased sometimes and the press/haters really loves to nitpick at it. GM knows this will happen to the Volt also so they are being very careful. Nissan is going to great lengths to select and educate the early adopters.. they dont want to see LEAFs on the side of the road awaiting a tow truck.. but it will happen even if a reporter has to push that car there.
The picture is showing the 25 minute fast charger plugged in.. looks like a pretty thick cable.. pretty sexy!.. please repaint those cars in a more pleasing color.
Jun 15th, 2010 (1:51 pm)I think we need to rename it the WeeNoGo
-9
Jun 15th, 2010 (2:03 pm)Whoa !
No iPhone app then NO SALE.
The main reason I want my LEAF is due to tight intergration with iPhone 4 which happens to be the greatest phone ever created by mankind .
They must get this working ASAP.
+4
Jun 15th, 2010 (2:08 pm)Not to jinx it, but there are some indications showing now that Nissan may have a runaway hit on its hands with the Leaf. Obviously, too early to tell, but …..
___________
“Nissan has announced that it will increase the production capacity of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles in order to meet increasing demand worldwide”
Nissan Announces Plans to Nearly Double Production of Li-Ion Batteries for EVs
http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2010/06/nissan-announces-plans-to-nearly-double-production-of-li-ion-batteries-for-evs.html
___________
“Leaf sales will be capacity restrained in the first two years until the U.S. plant comes on line, Perry said.”
“”We are making money at the price that we announced,” Perry said. “We priced the car to be affordable. WE PRICED IT FOR MASS ADOPTION.”"
Nissan’s Leaf electric vehicle to be IN THE BLACK
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2924136920100430
/hopefully someone at gm might take note of the “all cap” message.
+6
Jun 15th, 2010 (2:19 pm)Good comment Noah. While Nissan is a good car company we are concerned that ANY early EV stumble may set a bad impression for the entire field. Nissan should get with a well considered roll out program that tests the vehicle in a wide variety of circumstances. For example will the Leaf reach the top of Pike’s Peak? Will it run in -20C weather? This makes the Volt program look all the better. GM is definitely setting the bar and leading the way to electrification of transport.
FOUR test vehicles???? Mr. Ghosn are you serious???
+2
Jun 15th, 2010 (2:20 pm)“Greimel noted that Nissan
only has four pre-production vehicles at the present moment”
Ya this car will have been tested before they start selling them or are they going to be about a year late to market?
How can they only have 4 built at this point, what are they crash testing?
I will say it again “I hope this car (Leaf) is not so bad that it turns everyone off to electric cars”
+2
Jun 15th, 2010 (2:27 pm)How ’bout you use your iPhone to call the old lady and say, “Honey, plug in the car!”
+3
Jun 15th, 2010 (2:28 pm)Appears that the marketing campaign is more ready than the car. Engineering a BEV is simple in comparison to an EREV, yet the Leaf seems less developed.
-26
Jun 15th, 2010 (2:28 pm)(click to show comment)
+5
Jun 15th, 2010 (2:39 pm)Step down to a car that dramatically reduces fuel consumption, has the potentail for development of muti-fuel (including biofuel) capability and doesn’t just stop at the end of it’s battery charge?
LOL Good one.
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (2:51 pm)Its directional and high frequency, also could be actively canceled inside the cabin.. like GM does with the Equinox.
+2
Jun 15th, 2010 (2:53 pm)I sure hope they get that iPhone working. I just order one this morning. If i roll in a Volt most definitely need my iPhone riding shotgun.
Lets be civil here and drop the LEAF hate already.
+4
Jun 15th, 2010 (2:59 pm)Um…nope, doesn’t fit my mantra. “I will buy any electric car that has 4 seats and that I can service inside its electric range”
-13
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:00 pm)(click to show comment)
-3
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:08 pm)“Greimel noted that Nissan only has four pre-production vehicles at the present moment, and he drove one of them.” – This is for demo shows only. Nissan has stated in numerous articles that the LEAF has gone through extensive crash testing. Considering that the LEAF has been touring the WORLD, I doubt that there are only 4 cars to do that entire job.
“GM already has more than 400 pre production Chevy Volts.” See previous comment as well as – Does the statement imply that the VOLT is 100 times better?? Okay, let’s look into the future and see if that’s makes a difference that the VOLT will have not ONE problem, especially since they made 100 times more production vehicles than the LEAF. We’ll see…
“Greimel also found out the optional solar panel rear spoiler can only trickle charge the 12v lead acid battery used for windshield wipers and electric windows. It is not connected to the 24 kwh lithium pack.” – Nothing new here. Nissan stated this info a long time ago.
“Embarrassingly, and possibly telling of Nissan’s rush into this arena, the journalist did experience minor glitches in the pre-production unit. The joystick knob, for example, could not be placed in neutral, even when the Nissan engineer tried it.” – I think I remember somebody reporting that GM would NOT allow drivers to experinence the charge sustaining mode early on in the VOLT developed process. Hmm, I woinder who is being more transparent?
“He summed the situation up this way “the question is whether customers will accept a certain amount of range anxiety in exchange for a clean, peppy, futuristic car.” – No new customers at this point are allowed to. The initial 19,000 LEAFs are spoken for already. Maybe late 2011.
GO EV!!!
-4
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:09 pm)Manufacturers like ABAT are showing increased sales and wider usages of product. It’s there for the taking.
AONE $8.12
ABAT $3.16
The above prices were posted here a week ago on the 7th.
Today’s prices:
AONE $8.86 $900 gain on $10,000
ABAT $3.58 $1,320 gain on $10,000
=D-Volt
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:09 pm)Off Topic:
I recently saw where the BMW Megacity EV will weigh about 2100 lbs, or about 1000 lbs less than the Volt or Leaf. So the question is how much better EV mileage should be expect if we “add lightness” to an EV?
Lets say we are driving along at about 60 miles per hour, getting about 3.6 miles per kwh in our 3200 lb Leaf or Volt. Now we exchange the vehicle for one that uses the carbon fiber technology of the Megacity and drop the vehicle weight down to about 2200 lbs. Everything else is the same, so no change in drag, or drive train efficiency.
Should we expect about a 10% improvement, say to 4 miles per kwh, or would the change be significantly less or more. Would we see more improvement in stop and go driving where we are accelerating less mass or would the rolling resistance of the greater weight cut highway mileage more.
Anybody have a clue?
-20
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:14 pm)(click to show comment)
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:19 pm)Don’t forget the solar cell paint. Dupont?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/01/0114_050114_solarplastic.html
=D-Volt
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:22 pm)Ummm, that sounds really logical and all, except for the fact that they have leveraged the internet to pre-sell all of the first year production commitment. So far there is no competition between electric car makers. GM and Nissan combined don’t appear to be making enough to sate apparent demand.
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:27 pm)“Hans Greimel of Automotive News is among the first to publish his experience.” – Did Hans ever review the VOLT? I’d be curious to see his review regarding all the features of the VOLT, currently working or not.
“Also the iPhone remote charging app could not connect to the server and its demonstration had to be scrapped.” – Does not connecting to a router or WIFI source mean that the iPhone doesn’t work?
GO EV!!!
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:32 pm)You know, I’ve personally been contemplating a LEAF. I live in one of the introduction areas and that lease may be the trick.
I haven’t committed to a decision yet, and will have to test drive a LEAF of course.
I just can’t see myself waiting around for GM to decide if and when the Volt will rollout statewide.
Lots here seem to take the Volt, or a 50,000 unit production for granted. I haven’t seen that number etched in stone yet, and there is no indication at the dealer level that GM will not hold true to it’s stated claims of 2-3,000 Volts sold in 3 markets for 2010, and perhaps 12-18,000 units sold in 2012 in same 3 markets. So far, everything else, seemingly stated as fact, is only speculation.
Nobody here has to keep repeating this daily mantra we hear that Volt is better. The Volt platform has some major advantages over a pure BEV, yes. LEAF range will increase over time, and each mile AER added to each quick charging station added is one more bullet in the chamber against GM, and it’s unwillingness to commit to Volt.
The straight facts are Volt is still pie-in-the-sky and it is also limited as a second car due to it’s four door coupe nature ( 4 seater with very tight rear seating ). I’ve read the scattered comments that Volt’s 4 seats don’t effect their personal decision to purchase one. All well and good, but please remember that you are in a huge minority there, and Volt will not be inexpensive. It’s entire price and configuration limit it to real large numbers – singles who have no concerns for seating capacity – who are also early adopters, and EREV aficionados are few and far between – especially when words are only words and the only thing that matters in the auto business is actual sales. A very large segment of auto buyer who falls into the “coupe mentality” are also in line for performance vehicles ala Camaro, Mustang or Hyundai Genesis Coupe – and Volt is not a traditional “performance” vehicle.
These are factors, I believe – we all have to come to terms with – thus looking at LEAF in a new way, as a true mass – produced conduit to get off of that sticky, ugly, smelly crude oil we all see daily making the Gulf of Mexico the world’s next Dead Sea.
In today’s environment, the LEAF seems the only affordable electrified choice you and I have. And it’s not bad – not bad at all.
RECHARGE! James
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:32 pm)The iPhone app never had a chance to work. They didn’t have a router or WIFI source anywhere to connect to the server. Is that a fault of the LEAF or the event coordinator?
No worries, all the hate will turn to LOVE soon enough, once the 19,000 LEAFs are released to the EV driving community and we can drive by gas station laughing…..
GO EV!!!
+4
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:34 pm)Only 2 glitches. Not bad considering the number of glitches GM hit with its pre-production Volt models. Also, I bet these 2 glitches are software which should be easy to fix. Its also nice that Nissan is being forthright on range variation dependent on driving style (over 130 miles down to 47 miles) which it is typical for an EV. I have no problem with that.
The car is a great second car fit (my first is my motorcycle
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:35 pm)It depends on how aggressive and efficient their brake regen is.. The Volt uses a dedicated motor for brake regen, the engineers really want to recover all the possible energy.
On flat ground on a hwy you wont notice much of a difference (1%).. stop and go traffic and hilly terrain will make more of a difference.. my guess about 10% range.. air drag is still the most important thing on a BEV. The lighter car should be more forgiving if you are an aggressive driver.
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:36 pm)Jeremy Clarkson?
-10
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:38 pm)(click to show comment)
-3
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:40 pm)Damn right!
GO EV!!!!
-3
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:42 pm)+1 for you James…
“Nobody here has to keep repeating this daily mantra we hear that Volt is better. The Volt platform has some major advantages over a pure BEV, yes. LEAF range will increase over time, and each mile AER added to each quick charging station added is one more bullet in the chamber against GM, and it’s unwillingness to commit to Volt.”
All Nissan certified LEAF dealers that sell the LEAF are required to install at least (1) 440V quick charger. Seattle to LA, not one drop of GAS! What other manufacturer can claim this????
GO EV!!!
+17
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:43 pm)What’s the big delio on the iPhone crap? You don’t need the friggin thing integrated to the car.
Geeeesh.
I vote no iPhone anything. Just build a good ol EV, that’s all we need. Quit “Wanting” shtufff. Besides., I don’t want to have to pay for that crap in the car.
/bunch of damn young whipersnappers…..
+9
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:44 pm)Out of curiosity, if you hate the Volt and GM so much, why are you here?
+7
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:53 pm)He summed the situation up this way:
“the question is whether customers will accept a certain amount of range anxiety in exchange for a clean, peppy, futuristic car.”
Appears to me there were no real surprises.
The car was fairly quick as was expected.
The car was quiet as was expected.
Couple of glitches as was expected
The range anxiety question as was expected.
The quality of the car was as expected.
I expect the VOLT will perform the same or better as the LEAF.
There will be NO Range Anxiety question.
AND
I expect glitches to be minimal.
There has been sooooo much preparation and about 400 pre production VOLTS on the road gathering data everyday.
It will be a win for EV’s if both cars have great sales to meet the needs of the buyers.
My choice is- the VOLT to better fit my travel needs.
-11
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:53 pm)(click to show comment)
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:58 pm)Fortunately, for many of us, they BUY a LOT of stuff that will help make the VOLT and other EVs profitable. We can smile all of the way to the bank knowing the VOLT is desired by a LOT of folks young and old. :+}
-6
Jun 15th, 2010 (3:59 pm)To spread the real “Truth”.
TRUTH:
Range Anxiety = Dependence on foreign oil
Jun 15th, 2010 (4:01 pm)This article has a couple articles in it, and a video of left hand drive test run.
http://nissan-leaf.net/2010/06/15/first-leaf-test-drives-begin/
+3
Jun 15th, 2010 (4:01 pm)One more comment I’d like to make is – Why is GM selling the Volt at all?
A couple thoughts on the subject – Perhaps Volt is designed to fail. Many who respect the Tesla Roadster and admit it changed the world in a tangible way – also realize it was doomed. To expect to find a large market for a two-seat, $125,000 toy with a range liability quotient is unrealistic. Same with Volt. Volt looks more and more like GM’s science experiment. A vehicle it likes to call “halo” to prove something to government and to society. I do not believe GM thinks there will be a steady mass market for a $35,000 4 seater that lacks the 0-60 and handling numbers of performance vehicles that make them “exciting” to enthusiasts.
The Volt will make outstanding showroom candy and great conversation at auto shows nationwide. The fact GM could develope such a car with unprecidented capabilities, undoubtedly impressive.
As it stands the Eco Cruze will be GM’s mileage flagship and I’m sure next gen Malibu and Impala will use similar strategies to help comply with the latest government mileage regulations, incorporating a high mileage model in each line with smaller, direct-injected turbocharged models with less sound insulation and lighter suspension components to achieve higher fleet mileage scores.
To expect GM to take the Volt and increase expenditures going back to the drawing board, redoing the halo model to develop a 2nd and 3rd generation of a poorly selling car is just insanity. This is just not how the auto industry goes about business.
So once again, why is GM doing the Volt? All they had to do was build a GM/Chevy/Buick Prius. All General Motors had to do was equal a 50 mpg hybrid – and if they made one with a plug – bam, they’d be right in the mix. If GM even equalled the Prius – and made a viable competitor to it, they would have had all the “green cred” and kudos they ever could dream of. If they pumped out a plug-in Cruze with a slightly more aero nose with less air-sucking grille and a small lithium pack that sold in the $25-28,000 range people would flock to their showrooms. But they didn’t. Why?
Why? Because they don’t want Americans to buy electrified family cars. They’re far too expensive to build and they don’t burn non-renewable fossil fuels. Electric cars just don’t require the sheer amount of profitable replacement parts that fuel a multi-billion dollar auto economy. Electric cars don’t make good business sense to dinosaurs like GM. They will have to be forced into the market by more forward-thinking concerns like Nissan and Toyota. In other words, GM will have to be dragged into the 21st and 22nd centuries – if they survive that long.
In the end, if GM wasn’t in bed with the oil companies, they would have done just that. Instead we have this silly Volt , and a lot of silly folks dreaming and talking about it as if it were the next Prius. It’s too expensive and too limited in practicality. Toyota will gladly keep refining their car and soon will offer a plug-in option. It still remains that the Prius has shown ( Honda and Volkswagen tried other formulas to no avail ) us all that it has been the balance of gas savings, quality and pricepoint to which opens customer’s wallets.
So once again GM —– Why Volt?!
RECHARGE! James
+5
Jun 15th, 2010 (4:06 pm)Yes Nissan is pushing the launch date. On the other hand it’s not a good thing to be late to the party. Ghosn sees an opportunity and is going for it. His approach has some downside but it also has considerable upside. GM’s more cautious approach likewise has downside and upside. It’s just that the downsides and upsides are different — for GM the downside is that it misses an opportunity to dominate a market segment.
In comparing where the Leaf development is versus the Volt’s, keep in mind that at least one commentator has said that the first production Volts will be more like version 1.5 than version 1.0. It’s a very polished vehicle.
-8
Jun 15th, 2010 (4:12 pm)Interesting how so far everything about the Volt parallel’s the EV-1 saga. At least they haven’t announced they will only Lease it………..for now.
In the market where all of us want to get off of big oil after the bulge in high prices, why make the best selling point of the car the ability to continue the dependence? That sounds like product death in the making. And our billions of dollars saved this crap?
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (4:14 pm)I agree a lighter car overall will have better mileage after wind drag is factored …. But to achieve that lightness with carbon fiber… will not the cost of the car be a lot higher?? Would it be so high that the cost would offset gains in better mileage ( 10%) ?
-4
Jun 15th, 2010 (4:20 pm)There’s sticky oil everywhere. Now I can’t fly!
Why are you building another car that uses this crap?!?!?!?!?!? Are you that stupid?
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (4:21 pm)Blue Color works for me on almost any car. Especially electrics … blue spark etc… That is why I many times say GO BLUE :+}
+5
Jun 15th, 2010 (4:23 pm)0-60 in 6 seconds & resonably pricedsounds good to me. I have been monitoring my daily miles driven and I drive less than 35 miles a day so the range will not be an issue. No more sending my hard earned money to the middle east and I will no longer be part (contributer) of the MESS that is happining in the Gulf and soon to be headed all the way up the east coast…Go LEAF…
-1
Jun 15th, 2010 (4:42 pm)I disagree that GM’s message with Volt is it’s gas engine option’s dependence on oil is it’s biggest strength. Why write such drivel? Obviously EREV’s biggest strength is that you will not get stranded at the end of your plug. Obviously most privelaged, connected celebrity Volt owners will drive their days predominantly on electricity thus distancing themselves from oil dependence.
My point was that the Prius enables common folks to reduce their oil usage and carry 4 family members plus driver, while being affordable to many – not a few. Prius does this with a cargo capacity large enough for a trip to Costco.
We use Prius as the Volt target because that’s what it was — and is. Toyota proved people want a hybrid car to look different than a Corolla or a Jetta. They wanted others to know they were driving a futuristic looking – aero-efficient machine that didn’t have huge gaping grills out front to block the air. Honda tried to hybridize the Civic, and it sold, but not nearly like Toyota’s hybrid. People wanted a hybrid that didn’t look like the other models a company sold. Honda tried to make a Honda Prius ( Insight 4 door ) and sell it for a cheaper price. Problem is, it didn’t perform like a Prius and it’s cheapness bled through – so now, anything less than a 2008 oil price hike, and they’ll sit on Honda lots with sale tags on them. Prius wins again.
GM is not an amateur. By now, the Prius formula is plain as the nose on your face. If GM wanted to they could have made a “GM Prius” and sold boatloads of ‘em. So why don’t they? Why the anemic, sophomoric Malibu light hybrid and 2 mode Escalades?…… Why…Why…Why…..Hmmmmmm….
Why no MPV5 or four door midsize Voltec with a 30 mile AER and seating for five or six and a price of $25-30,000?
I’m no conspiracy theorist. I don’t think GM is just plain lazy and just pressed THE EASY BUTTON and turned out those lemons, but as I’ve pointed out last week – GM’s board of directors is loaded with oilmen. GM has worked with oil companies for eons. GM switched out some management and liked us to believe somehow they were not the same old Detroit car culture they always have been.
Even the Gulf crisis we watch on TV nightly is not enough for GM to change the old old ways. People could crowd the Ren Center, downtown Detroit by the tens of thousands waving flaming torches and demanding electric cars and GM would look out from their lofty terraces like some Roman Caesar and sigh —- “pity pity” those poor fools, for they know not how we make a buck!”
RECHARGE! James
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (4:46 pm)Don’t agree with your premise but that was very funny — mostly because of how true it seems to be.
+4
Jun 15th, 2010 (4:48 pm)So far, the ride of electrics is proving everything anyone could have hoped for and more. Good for all the Manufacturers helping the world depart Oil and the Oil barons of this world.
+3
Jun 15th, 2010 (4:58 pm)The bigger question that annoys me is why were they planning to build an EV for India and NOT the US?
http://gm-volt.com/2010/06/10/gm-is-moving-pure-electric-car-development-to-us-while-nissan-begins-to-manage-expectations/
I wanted a Spark EV DANGIT!
Even if it got only 80 MPC and…
No Power Windows
No Power Adjust Seats
No Power Side view mirrors
No Power Sunroof (Actually No Sunroof at all!!)
No Power Door Locks
No Power Trunk lock
No Radio (Remember that fiasco? – Get an iPod)
No Heated Seats
No GPS (My Phone has one and it WORKs!)
No OnStar!!! Yuk, Phoey!
+4
Jun 15th, 2010 (5:03 pm)How many electric cars have been sold this year and how many gas? Might it be slightly premature to say a car company will create product death by selling cars that can fuel up at one of thousands of existing gas stations?
The Volt will allow people to drive electric from the mains. Other than the Leaf how many cars will offer that choice at all? How many companies have taken the risk of selling an electric car for this year period. Interesting how someone who wants so badly to see electric cars, complains about a company with a hundred year history with gas engines…making electric cars.
+2
Jun 15th, 2010 (5:04 pm)You feel you are doing an effective job of this?
-13
Jun 15th, 2010 (5:08 pm)(click to show comment)
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (5:11 pm)Looks like you may have to order one from India.
-1
Jun 15th, 2010 (5:11 pm)I just found out that Jay (Statik) Cole runs a web site dedicated to the LEAF!
http://nissan-leaf.net
That’s great & hilarious at the same time! Alright Statik!! Changing my startup page!!
Go EV!!!!
-3
Jun 15th, 2010 (5:15 pm)Cant understand why GM did not follow what BMW did leasing the cars to select few in real world operation …cud have found out the bugs, what people like or dont like in reports to GM …guess GM is still stuck inole ways of doing stuff …Get bold & build good engineered car & buyers will come …Go GM ..get off your duff ..
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (5:20 pm)Not to put your thunder down bro, but if I had the opportunity to do web dev for even 6 competing companies and get paid for it, i’m there bro! Show me the MONEY$$$$$!
Nowadays a job is hard to find. More props to statik!!! ya big web Pimp!
/sh|t, just got an email about 1000 more lay off’s.
//gettin really tired of this government sh|t.
+2
Jun 15th, 2010 (5:26 pm)#63
PDNFTT is my advice. You can’t win, and it just eggs them on, IMHO. My mother always used to say that what people like that hate worst of all is not getting attention. if you ignore them long enough, they will go away on their own.
That said, it has been a tough day. if their intent is to make going through the comments so unpleasant that people stay away, they are doing a pretty good job today. I have given out more “-1s” today than ever before.
+2
Jun 15th, 2010 (5:27 pm)That’s what they did with the EV-1. If they did that agian, that would be career suicide for whoever decided to do that again. Not that I care for GM but that would’ve been their death.
+2
Jun 15th, 2010 (5:42 pm)Dang, I just re-read your post and realized you weren’t putting statik down.
My bad homie. My last post seemed to point you as giving a negative vibe. Ooops.
/long day.
Jun 15th, 2010 (5:44 pm)It’s amazing how this car has more “interest” than the Volt when Google and Facebook are used as a measurement “tool”… especially when you consider that this is the first journalist test drive that has been published, and only 4 Leafs are in existence.
This shows you the power of on-line social networking-based marketing. However, I tend to think that a lot people who spend time on Facebook simply accept every “offer” they get on it, be it friend requests that they don’t really care about (the more friends, the better, right?) , invitations to play Farmville (a.k.a. Timewasteville), or become “fans” of a product or company that they don’t truly care about.
-8
Jun 15th, 2010 (5:56 pm)SO .. where is the VOLT info? Haven’t seen any here…. have you been bought out too?
+3
Jun 15th, 2010 (6:00 pm)Several days like that of late. +1 to you!
-9
Jun 15th, 2010 (6:10 pm)News is, GM still will not divulge the dirty polluter mpg rating and they still will not give the price.
So, that means no news.
-7
Jun 15th, 2010 (6:17 pm)When you keep turning a blind eye on the truth, it eventually comes out. Hence the -=Silence=-
+8
Jun 15th, 2010 (6:29 pm)Nissan is a very good and experienced car manufacturer. The fact that the Leaf does more or less what they have said it would do does not surprise me. The problem is that it doesn’t do anything that I personally would be willing to pay $25,000 or so for. I would rather pay $32,000 or so for what I trust the Volt will do.
Jun 15th, 2010 (6:30 pm)No worries Captain, (always +1 for captain Jack) all’s good here!
I just thought that maybe I was the last to know!!
Go EV!!!
+8
Jun 15th, 2010 (6:33 pm)I can’t agree with you more
RE: AnonymousP
You’re boring, actually.
Once in a while you can be comical, with the pissing in the wind stuff you do. Ragging on the Volt as an EREV passenger car is not a very productive literate way to get support for your cause.
I’d rather like to see you piss in the coffee of a Mack truck driver for getting 3 mpg.
Put that one on youtube and you’d get some real support,
post mortem.
+17
Jun 15th, 2010 (6:36 pm)I wish the site had a ‘hide specified poster’ feature. There are 3 or 4 posters on this site that contribute nothing of worth and much of vitriol and ignorance. Guess the ‘vote them off the island’ will have to do!
The funny thing is that I hope Nissan sells a ton of the Leafs. It wouldn’t work for me, no BEV probably will because I want a relatively inexpensive car that can be driven at highway speed for at least 200 miles, preferably 250 miles. By 2020 I expect that I will be able to buy that sort of BEV, but I don’t want to wait 10 years to nearly completely get off of oil, even though I will have to buy a gallon or two of gas a month to get the capabilities I demand.
But every Leaf that a BEV zealot buys does America and the world a favor, so go for it, BEV’ers!
-14
Jun 15th, 2010 (6:51 pm)(click to show comment)
Jun 15th, 2010 (6:57 pm)lol!!
+8
Jun 15th, 2010 (7:10 pm)Except for the Volt of course, which is better.
+4
Jun 15th, 2010 (7:29 pm)#74
Thanks. +1 right back at ya!
Someone on “The Formerly Affiliated Blog Which Must Remain Nameless” was commenting today on intense anti electric car FUD, supposedly sponsored by “Big Oil” and the rest of the usual suspects. So FUD does come to mind. I am usually hesitant to invent a conspiracy theory to explain something which can be explained by simple dumbness, but one does start to wonder. I remember when we used to get so much pro Toyota trolling. Now it’s Nissan. I wonder what is really going on? Anyway, they aren’t going to get rid of me. I just laugh, hit the “-1″, and move on down the line.
+14
Jun 15th, 2010 (7:30 pm)Anyone who reacts in this manner must truly be an idiot. A large reduction in petroleum consumption is useless because it’s not zero? A BEV doesn’t consume any petroleum just because it doesn’t have a tailpipe? I’m not impressed with your radical opinion or the obscenities. Not everyone is willing or able to give up their mobility to utilize an electric car. Until electric cars can match the range and recharge performance of ICE cars, something like a Volt is a realistic compromise.
+9
Jun 15th, 2010 (7:50 pm)It has nothing to do with the truth. It’s your attitude and the way you say things.
+5
Jun 15th, 2010 (7:51 pm)I think GM already went through this exercise. Aero is more important than weight because regenerative braking car recover some of the energy. Sure, weight reduction is desirable but they found the aero drag more critical to reaching the performance goals right now.
+2
Jun 15th, 2010 (8:10 pm)President Obama gave his speech regarding the Gulf disaster. He said, “BP will pay”. Analysis hilighted the tighter guidelines to be placed on oil drillers. The conclusion: “Tighter guidelines mean higher costs”.
This looks like the start of a ramp up of passed on costs to the consumer. And a physical and mental injection of momentum to the pursuit of alternatives to burning oil.
The 8 week Gulf oil gusher should be fully contained in about a month. Millions of gallons of crude are dispersing over a wide area. Hope the $100 billion in clean up and compensation costs billed to BP will eventually restore the region to health.
=D-Volt
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (8:19 pm)Thanks for the information. The amount of energy to be recovered with regenerative braking makes sense.
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (8:20 pm)You have asked a good question that deserves a serious answer. Some guesswork is required, but I think one can establish reasonable guidelines on what will happen. The key issue is speed of the vehicle.
The simplest cases are steady movement on level ground at a fixed speed. First suppose the speed is low, say 20 mph. Here gas mileage will be inversely proportional to weight, because the main thing hold the car back is rolling resistance. So if the weight is cut to 2/3, then the mileage increases by 1/(2/3) or 3/2, that is, by 50%. It’s terrific, and it probably will be achieved by some hypermilers, but most of us won’t see it.
Second suppose the steady speed is 75 mph. Now almost all the fuel is used to overcome aero drag. It seems unlikely that weight reduction will in itself have an effect UNLESS the use of these special materials allows more refinemint in reducing aero drag. Maybe so, but let’s say not.
So the answer to your question is going to center around “how fast”? For a general all around answer I am thinking maybe a 20% increase in real mileage for a driver that goes here and there.. That is a big kick. Maybe not enough to be revolutionary, but enough to make a lot of talking points. It will be remarkable if they can do it at a reasonable price.
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (8:23 pm)I can only speak for the work our company is doing with nano-coatings on thin film solar. We are paying about $13,500 per gallon. Of course we are trying to drive out cost, increase efficiency with thinner layers, etc. Best case is small roof area to charge auxiliary battery to power radio, lights, etc. Maybe enough juice for heater and help with A/C.
Jun 15th, 2010 (8:27 pm)GM is, in fact, changing. It is a slow and painful change but they are ‘getting it’. Just looking at the ‘build quality’ alone on the 2010 model cars shows a vast improvement, and this has paid off with better sales and a better reputation.
The ‘Dinosaurs’ of GM are all retiring… remember? Eventually, a quicker thinking creature will emerge. As proof in fact: You know those Mastodons that fell into the tar pits in La Brea? Not many people know this, but after they fell in and started sinking to their ultimate doom, they actually learned to speak. And the last thing they said was “Oh, Sh!!#%%%%t” !!!
+6
Jun 15th, 2010 (8:33 pm)I think that there is more than enough room in the market for both cars and more. I think that Nissan is using a fair amount of hype, but nothing terribly wrong with that. I wish them both well. And a BEV version of the Volt should be received well too, although that might cause a bit of confusion. Maybe a GM BEV should be different enough to avoid confusion in the market place.
+7
Jun 15th, 2010 (8:41 pm)Why did you fly into the oil laden water? I thought animals had instinct to avoid danger! Stupid Pelicans. LOLOL
Jun 15th, 2010 (8:42 pm)No, I act like I care what you think.
+5
Jun 15th, 2010 (8:48 pm)James, as you know I am so often critical of gm that it is strange that this time I am going to say that I think you wrote an interesting post but somewhat too pessimistic. Here are a few things that lean the other way.
First, as relates to the question “Why the Volt?”, the narrow answer is that Bob Lutz wanted it and sold the idea to the board. He saw the Tesla and said gm can do it better and cheaper. He saw Toyota and said “gm has the most car-design talent in the world, let’s jump over them”. He saw bad PR and said lets have an eco flagship.
Maybe you will at least agree that Volt has been a super eco-flagship and played a major role in attracting billions of federal money. By that measure alone it has been the most profitable car gm has ever made.
But there is no doubt that Posawatz, the first Volt person, never would have signed on to a science project car. He thinks it is going to be a great car. Lutz thinks that. Many others at gm think that. But as we all know, gm is a huge corporation. No doubt many others, like you, think it will bomb. Let’s see what happens. So far it is sold out, so it hasn’t happened yet. As for what tomorrow brings, we are going to have to wait for tomorrow, and some pricing, and some availability. At this time we just don’t know.
Certainly it is a mystery why there is little promotion of the Volt, in terms of deposits or waiting list or whatever. It seems like a good time. However, sometimes the obvious answer is correct — so many people have been rolling through those executive positions, they have not had time to make anything happen. And their boss is saying “sell cars today.” It may still come about. Let’s just wait and see. The good part is, not too much longer.
Jun 15th, 2010 (8:48 pm)“only … four pre-production vehicles” probably refers to left-hand drive versions. It’s likely that Nissan has built, tested, and crashed a boatload of right-hand drive Leafs for the home market.
+4
Jun 15th, 2010 (8:54 pm)Ummm, what I’m saying is that if Volt comes to market without issue, and a good 6 months ahead of Leaf, publicity will cause people to rethink. They will cancel their Leaf orders and get refund and wait for Volt. If, and it is a big IF, the Volt launches flawlessly, and there is demand, GM can up production. I am speculating that Leaf is behind schedule and hoping Volt is too. I don’t think Volt is behind at all.
+5
Jun 15th, 2010 (8:54 pm)Hmmmm.
American manufacturing for the American market. Japanese manufacturing for the Japanese market. The Japanese cars sell in the US because of the appeal of cheap, efficient, durable little boxes. Our country readily accepts the imported vehicles because there are plenty of people here that will make a good buck by selling them.
And that’s it.
GM isn’t an evil empire, they’re a reflection of us. We will work for companies that support our family. I don’t live in Japan and I don’t like sending my money there. When GM has built good cars I have bought them above other filthy, polluting, oil burning, self serving, import manufacturing companies.
Your’e rantings on the partnership of oil and US manufacturing has a lot of validity to it, but the rantings are true for every manufacturer in the world. China being the worst. (Toyota has 11 manufacturing facilities in China)
Hating GM is easy for the poor quaility cars foisted on us over the past few decades, but using the Volt as a highlighted example for the hate just isn’t valid. We have seen an overwhelming amount of good there. Why are you ignoring it? The EV-1 was a good car too, what other company had one?
Today’s article is just one example of showing us just how much more thorough, professional and sincere the Volt engineers are above the Nissan crew in providing a great EV that’s going to ready for us to buy next summer.
For me, the Leaf will make a good second car provided the limitations that are being exposed now don’t get worse. I would consider a used one to accompany a Volt in a few years but the technology and battery prices will make the Leaf obsolete much quicker than the same factors for the Volt.
When the Leaf sells, Nissan will make more. Ditto for the Volt.
Jun 15th, 2010 (9:07 pm)Ummm, stop that!!! When is the first Leaf scheduled to be delivered?
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (9:24 pm)Ohmmmmmmmm. [Get it?
] Leaf gives a vague launch of early 2011 with increases in spring (March 20 – June 21 of 2011). Volt is November, 2010. I will predict, first commercial Leaf delayed until July, 2011 and increase in September, 2011. If Volt meets and exceeds expectations and Leaf is delayed, Volt will win.
-4
Jun 15th, 2010 (9:35 pm)lol….good retort, even better actor.
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (9:38 pm)LOL.
Seems like each is doing the barest minimum of awareness advertising and waiting for the inevitable sellout of limited production. Can’t imagine what would happen if they really went at the marketing and manufactured in large numbers. Viral campaigns, big traditional media buys, town hall meetings dealer ad budgets, contests, recognition activities for participants at sites like this, posters, fliers uTube vids and email u-sends for friends family and interested parties.
I imagine a lot of folks would sign up, except GM doesn’t have a web site option where they could. And there is a lot to be said for keeping the first run numbers low while adopting technology that is new for the OEM’s.
+5
Jun 15th, 2010 (9:39 pm)Just as long as you check out you check out GM-Volt.com everyday as well. Have just started that up recently, working on getting it running smooth, daily content up, etc. (Lyle has shown me some things here about running a site, and hopefully Nissan-LEAF.net can run half as well)
+1
Jun 15th, 2010 (9:44 pm)Thanks. A successful thespian once said, “Sincerity, that’s truly the key to great acting. Once you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”
-3
Jun 15th, 2010 (11:21 pm)How many people are stupid enough or dripping in cash enough to spend $30,000 for a second car?
-1
Jun 16th, 2010 (12:06 am)Ummmmmm……..
It’s “Peterbilt” not Peterbuilt.
Sounds like your undergoing anatomical augmentation, ewe…..yucky.
Jun 16th, 2010 (12:17 am)Yeah. Basically 50 MPH is where mass and aero are about equal. Go faster and aero losses dominate. Go slower and tire frictional losses predominate. But note that even at 75 MPH frictional losses can account for 30% of the total losses.
I tend to think of range increases as being about half the percentage of mass losses. Reduce the mass by 10% and the range increases by 5%. You can fool around with a number of variables for yourself with this calculator. It gives mpg rather than range but you can translate.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/tool-aero-rolling-resistance.php
+2
Jun 16th, 2010 (1:45 am)Families with two or more cars, that replace one of the two or three cars with a new one every 6 to 12 years or so?
Amortized over 10 to 20 years the price of the car itself is not that big a part of the driving expenses. Gas, insurance, maintenance loom larger for people that trade in or resell cars over long periods of time.
A family with three cars may replace one every seven years, but at that pace the newest one won’t be replaced for 21 years. Sounds ritzy that a family may have three cars, but if two are economy commuters and one is over 20 years old, they wouldn’t have to be “dripping in cash” to pull that off over a period of decades. A car that saves $1500 in gas a year for the next 20 years may look pretty good to someone with no car payments.
In short a mom or dad about 38 years or older, with at least one other driver in the family and two paid for cars. Maybe your aunt and uncle are trying to get on the list right now?????
+3
Jun 16th, 2010 (4:22 am)“Orders through dealers commencing in August (in limited areas) and sales by dealer commences in December 2010.” – Right off the nissan web site.
Link: http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/index#/leaf-electric-car/feature/pricing_information
GO EV!!!!
+4
Jun 16th, 2010 (4:29 am)No worries, been here at Lyle’s site since 2007 cheering on the EV changes that are finally NOW so close upon us! I’ll just be checking both sites now!
Good luck with the site Statik!
GO EV!!!
+3
Jun 16th, 2010 (5:21 am)The 47 mile range was conditional on driving 6mph (as the original article stated). 47/6 = 7.888 hours. So it meant running the AC at near full whack (considering it said the outside temp was 90oF). I think if you ran the AC in a car for 8 hours you’d use a lot of juice. Chances are you would never be 8 hours in the car at 6mph. You might be for an hour – then for that hour you would have used 1/8th of the battery… then you might hit the highway and be doing a lot better.
Jun 16th, 2010 (5:28 am)Yeah – I read Top Gear “faked” the dead battery on the Tesla Roadster. They really hate any electric cars and have tried to discredit them all. They’re not reviewers of cars, they’re reviewers of noisy petrol engine sports cars. eg. when reviewing a Range Rover they say for the added whoomph you have to get the petrol (when the diesel will get 20mpg and the petrol 12mpg). They dont care about the cost to fill up when they’re on £1m bbc contracts!
Jun 16th, 2010 (5:34 am)There are NOT 400 volts on the road. 400 pre-productions were made. I expect quite a lot were crash tested, and quite a lot are for demos, things and for taking apart and lab testing. We saw one cut up just to see how ambulance staff would be able to get into it! I suspect only 20-50 are on the road itself.
Considering the Leaf has been crash tested and things the 4 is a complete misnoma. I suspect the person was mis-quoted as saying we have 4 available for test driving. The Leaf also did not follow / copy the Volt as the article implied. The battery team behind the Leaf has been in the company for over a decade also. It was stated in a CNN article Ghosun read about their progress when he started, turned around the bn dollar loss making company but did NOT can / sell the department even though it was expected he would.
+1
Jun 16th, 2010 (6:01 am)Crew,
Well said. The whole entry is good. +1
Jun 16th, 2010 (6:24 am)The ironic thing about this is that the weight reduction will benefit lower speeds as RB mentions. This will benefit city mileage, not only from rolling resisitance but also from energy delivery/recovery cycle. There are losses in the energy transfer out of the battery and to the wheels and vice versa. The higher the weight, the more energy is transfered and the more that is lost. The effect on highway driving is minimized. The irony is how many miles of city driving get done. City drivees in general are pretty short and current tech doesn’t have difficulty meeting nearly everyone’s city-only needs. So, reducing the weight by 50% may yeild a 30% or so improvement in city mileage but maybe only 5% (if that) on the highway.
So what if your Leaf gets a boost from 70 to 91 miles of range in the city but only 70 to 77 miles on the highway. In reality, it is the highway range that really matters. This is where the limitations, or perceived limitations, lie. This is why weight reduction is more important to an EREV than a BEV. The other EREV concern is power from a smaller pack and so the EREV sees more benefits from weight savings here, too. The reduced weight allows for a correspondingly reduced battery size with less downside than the BEV.
Jun 16th, 2010 (7:04 am)I largely agree. Thank you for the link.
Jun 16th, 2010 (7:08 am)Agreed that city driving is where the most benefit will occur. How important that is will depend on the driver. For me it is the vast majority of my miles, but for someone else it may not be much.
The nice dividend from weight reduction is that it not only reduces rolling resistance directly, it allows downsize of many of the other systems, as there is no longer so much weight to be accelerated or braked, and then with smaller power required…. I’m sure you’d agree
Jun 16th, 2010 (8:41 am)Thanks RB @ 90; Don C @ 108; Koz @118,
Based on my research and the mileage calculator provided by Don C, the improvement in EV mileage at 60 MPH would be about 10%, from about 3.6 miles per kwh to about 4 miles per kwh.
Next, the consensus seems to be that city, stop and go driving would see a larger improvement, perhaps 30%. Thus if I drove a 2300 lb Leaf, and you drove a 3300 lb Leaf, my real world range would be much better. If I get 4 miles highway and 4.7 city, and 67% of my driving is city, my EV range would improve from 69 miles to 85 miles or almost 20%. Not too shabby.
+2
Jun 16th, 2010 (10:05 am)I’m with you 100% Ziv… I don’t understand the tension between LEAF and Volt enthusiasts. The LEAF won’t work for me with 2 kids and tons of after school activities, my daily driving schedule isn’t predictable enough. That doesn’t mean it’s not a cool car.
If I saw a dude with a LEAF I’d say…”Nice Car, if you ever run out of juice here’s my number… my Volt has plenty of Torque to drag your ass home..:)” I’d give him a smile and say..”Just Messing with you …. Your Leaf is cool.”
One last note, I think Nissan and GM should let the driver download different pedestrian sounds like Ring Tones. You could do Metallica or the Ice Cream Truck song…!!! Customize your Ride.
Go Volt and/or LEAF
Jun 16th, 2010 (10:07 am)#96
True that. +1
Jun 16th, 2010 (10:10 am)#99
Amen. +1
+2
Jun 16th, 2010 (10:13 am)#106
Enough to sell all the LEAFs they can make for awhile, IMHO.
-2
Jun 16th, 2010 (1:46 pm)“Greimel also found out the optional solar panel rear spoiler can only trickle charge the 12v lead acid battery used for windshield wipers and electric windows. It is not connected to the 24 kwh lithium pack.”
This seemed a little odd to me, having a completely different system for these accessories. Doesn’t everything in the Volt run off of the Li-Io battery pack, or did I miss some info along the line? Or this another result of Nissan’s rush to production.
Jun 16th, 2010 (2:59 pm)OK Statik, I need some extra cash too – I’m running out today and starting Mitsu-I-Miev.com!!!! Neener neener neenerrrr…LOL.
RECHARGE!
James
Jun 16th, 2010 (3:12 pm)/sounds exciting
Do you need some writing for that too? I think I still have a spare 10 minutes left in my day. And whats this about cash? That sounds nice.
Jun 16th, 2010 (8:04 pm)Of course and that is partly why EREV stand to benefit more than BEV from lightweighting.
Jun 16th, 2010 (8:16 pm)Perhaps your daily driving is 67%/33% but that wouldn’t be very normal. More likely that’s an annual average. On a daily basis that would be an odd commute. You would see a mileage savings over the year and that would save energy and money but you would only see the range benefit on days that were actually 2/3 city, 1/3 hwy. This isn’t a bad thing but I don’t see increasing the city range with expensive light weight choices when the highway range doesn’t change much. It is the highway range that will be the limiting factor for most people.
+2
Jun 16th, 2010 (11:28 pm)Volt has two isolated systems. Not many radios are runnin’ on nearly 400 volts. And Nissan has been rushin’ to electric car production for over 50 years.
Jun 17th, 2010 (2:25 pm)Nissan will eat GM’s lunch.
GM, even with all our money will fail to meet the challenge. If you are too big to fail, you are probably too big to succeed.
There is no entrepreneurial spirit at GM and there is no effective leadership contrast that with the CEO of Nissan – a night and day difference. Carlos Ghosn has been in the car business all of his professional life, he is a visionary who has been behind the electric car for decades. Edward Earl “Ed” Whitacre, Jr – has been in the telephone business all his life and his chief claim to fame, like most of his ilk, is cost cutting. Well you can’t cost cut your way to victory! Nissan will eat GM’s lunch !
Jun 21st, 2010 (11:04 am)dispenses use a good web site decent Gives appreciate it for the efforts to help me
Jun 29th, 2010 (2:59 pm)Your all biased. The leaf is better than the volt. Nissan has invested millions in battery technology and have ALREADY made a battery for the leaf that has a capacity of 300 miles per charge. And GM had to make 400 pre production vehicals? Why? That sounds like something the government would do.
I think the leaf will sell 10x more than the volt. The volt wont come out till mid 2012 by then nissan will be producing 100s of thousands of leafs which by the way nissan makes a profit on. Those profits will be rolled into the leafs 2nd generation all before the volt makes a dollar.
40miles on a charge? cmon now. One of my coworkers has a prius with a 4,000 conversion kit on it. He goes 50-60miles on a charge. GM is producing something that already exist!