Topic: Nissan Leaf - First Affordable, Mass Produced Electric Car

[toasty0]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f48x9baSuF0&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

[Bonk]

160 Km range? Still just good for around town or short commutes then. 30 minute quick charge stations help, but stopping every 160 Km for 30 min on a long drive would be too often for me.

Other drawback is the phone home feature of course. I assume North American Models will be left side drive?

Top speed of 140 Km/hr is cool though! Zoom, Zoom! er wait, that's Mazda...

[toasty0]

But is does address the issue of the highest majority of gas consumption (mile for travel mile) occurs during "city-like" driving condition. It's a good step forward. The range also covers the daily milage of a round trip commute.

Just one more baby step to breaking petroleum's head lock on our economy.

[marstone]

looks interesting, but one question.  What is considered affordable?

looking for a price, found that the battery pack costs around $10,000.  So they are looking at leasing the batteries to keep the cost down.

*quote*
Key to its success will be bringing down the cost of the batteries, which currently cost around $10,000 per car to make. Sensibly, Nissan plans to lease the batteries to customers rather than try to sell the car at an inflated price. Initially, the carmaker will share the burden by taking advantage of government subsidies and cheap loans to ensure sales are profitable from day one.

okay, found a possible price $25,000 - $30,000 (not in my price range).  That is probably with the battery lease.

[GQMarkDawg]

In my city we are building quick charge stations in partnership with Nissan I hope this gets Ev's on the Road soon. I hate sending my money to some Saudi Arabian prince so he can by a new casino

[marstone]

In my city we are building quick charge stations in partnership with Nissan I hope this gets Ev's on the Road soon. I hate sending my money to some Saudi Arabian prince so he can by a new casino

The U.S. doesn't actually get our oil from Saudi or that area.  80% of the imports come from Canada, the rest mainly from South America.  But the last 20% does come from various areas so alittlle Saudi oil might actually make it here.  But in the world market our use does help boost the price they get.

Bad part of those power stations, it will take some planning to take a half hour to top off your batteries  Also with the long charge time and low price, I can't see how a charging station like that could make money as a private station.  They would have to be run by a city/state/(or heaven forbid)federal level.

*slight edit/addendum*
Some places like a Mall might be able to designate a parking lot for Electric cars and have charging stations that you slide a credit card to charge your car while you shop.  But even that would be a balancing act of how many spots, how close to the door, etc.  When they become the norm, it will be easier to justify the expense of putting in chargers. (slight catch 22)

[toasty0]

Ok, this way some Canadian Prince can't buy another shopping mall...

[marstone]

Ok, this way some Canadian Prince can't buy another shopping mall...

LOL, 

I hold the belief that in 20-30 years when we are finally allowed to drill in the reserves in Alaska.  We will find out that Canada has already side drilled into it, pumped it all out and have sold it to us for all these years.

[FPF-Tobin Dax]

Ok, this way some Canadian Prince can't buy another shopping mall...

As a Canadian, I must correct the shopping mall reference. Canadian princes buy Tim Hortons franchises. 

[GQMarkDawg]

We buy plenty of Oil from the Saudis dude. I know Canada is our biggest trading partner.

[GQMarkDawg]

Posted by: marstone : I can't see how a charging station like that could make money as a private station.  They would have to be run by a city/state/(or heaven forbid)federal level.

The City of Seattle is doing it in partnership with Nissan.The point of the charge stations is to make money it's to save money and the air we breath.

[Khalee1]

25-30 thousand dollors still is not afforable to most Americans as a lot of us don't make 20 dollors a hour.

Right now, the most I can affod is a base model or the next step up Yaris or Aveo, or Carolla,or focus,or a Cobalt.

But if we would have listend to a President 35 years ago we could have developed these kind of cars way back then,but instead we listend to the other side and we have been paying for it ever since.

[Dash Jones]

35 years ago?  That would be...Nixon or Ford?

[marstone]

Posted by: marstone : I can't see how a charging station like that could make money as a private station.  They would have to be run by a city/state/(or heaven forbid)federal level.

The City of Seattle is doing it in partnership with Nissan.The point of the charge stations is to make money it's to save money and the air we breath.

I should have added city in the list also.  As there is no way to make money with a system that takes that long to charge something.  I am forunate anough to live in a smaller town (alittle above a village) in North Dakota, heck every car in town could run on a coal powered steam engine and our air would still be clean.  But I understand the need.

[marstone]

We buy plenty of Oil from the Saudis dude. I know Canada is our biggest trading partner.

I was going on word of mouth I have heard.  Yes Saudi oil makes it here, I knew it did wasn't sure of the level.

*quote*
Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports Top 15 Countries

May 2009 Import Highlights:  July 30, 2009
Monthly data on the origins of crude oil imports in May 2009 has been released and it shows that three countries exported more than 1.00 million barrels per day to the United States (see table below). The top five exporting countries accounted for 63 percent of United States crude oil imports in May while the top ten sources accounted for approximately 83 percent of all U.S. crude oil imports. The top sources of US crude oil imports for May were Canada (1.476 million barrels per day), Venezuela (1.228 million barrels per day), Mexico (1.088 million barrels per day), Saudi Arabia (0.996 million barrels per day), and Nigeria (0.552 million barrels per day). The rest of the top ten sources, in order, were Angola (0.493 million barrels per day), Russia (0.416 million barrels per day), Brazil (0.380 million barrels per day), Iraq (0.254 million barrels per day), and Columbia (0.227 million barrels per day). Total crude oil imports averaged 8.931 million barrels per day in May, which is a decrease of (0.475) million barrels per day from April 2009.

Canada remained the largest exporter of total petroleum in May, exporting 2.206 million barrels per day to the United States, which is a decrease from last month (2.281 thousand barrels per day). The second largest exporter of total petroleum was Venezuela with 1.341 million barrels per day.

[Nemesis]

One thing electric cars need to be really practical is a universal standard for chargers.  If a charge station needs a different charger for each manufacturer/model it just won't catch on.

[Bernard Guignard]

Has any one done Testing of these Cars in Winter conditions. ? I'm certain that needing a heater and the cold
will affect range and over all ability  I'm not against the Technology I just want to make sure that  the car would
be compatible with all weather conditions  would be a shame to go out  on a Jan day and find that  your car
won't start because your batteries lost thier charge in the cold or you need to plug it in much longer its
-30+

 

[toasty0]

25-30 thousand dollors still is not afforable to most Americans as a lot of us don't make 20 dollors a hour.

Right now, the most I can affod is a base model or the next step up Yaris or Aveo, or Carolla,or focus,or a Cobalt.

But if we would have listend to a President 35 years ago we could have developed these kind of cars way back then,but instead we listend to the other side and we have been paying for it ever since.

I make over 20/hr and 40k would be a stretch for me. Looking at my budget I'm thinking schwinn is the transportation device for me.

[Brush Wolf]

25-30 thousand dollors still is not afforable to most Americans as a lot of us don't make 20 dollors a hour.

Right now, the most I can affod is a base model or the next step up Yaris or Aveo, or Carolla,or focus,or a Cobalt.

But if we would have listend to a President 35 years ago we could have developed these kind of cars way back then,but instead we listend to the other side and we have been paying for it ever since.

I make over 20/hr and 40k would be a stretch for me. Looking at my budget I'm thinking schwinn is the transportation device for me.

I make less than $20/hr and $4k would be a stretch.

This is more in my bracket.

[Bonk]

Posted by: marstone : I can't see how a charging station like that could make money as a private station.  They would have to be run by a city/state/(or heaven forbid)federal level.

The City of Seattle is doing it in partnership with Nissan.The point of the charge stations is to make money it's to save money and the air we breath.

I don't know, I think it might be worth local electrical utilities getting the jump on this themselves. This is energy they are not currently selling. It's a new market, they can charge a premium for the convenience. Picking the location and terms and mechanism/metering of provision would best be done by themselves, no? Not to mention the opportunity to set the standards.

Or, I could get me one of those mini nuclear reactors, the associated electrical equipment, the specs on this vehicle's requirements and others as they develop and start me a new business! Automated, staffless "filling" stations with debit/cc payment. It is well worth a study before writing this off as a non-opportunity.

I can also see a potential for after-market add-ons for electric vehicles, particularly in power supplementation and performance improvements. Solar panels, recovery braking systems... I wonder what the cost/benefit on ducted fan generators would work out like for various designs?

How much electric potential is developed in a 10-14 foot long vehicle as it travels in various directions to the earth's magnetic feild? Is it worth harvesting? What parameters maximise it? I can also see the potential for static generation systems... again, a cost benefit of drag vs energy gain on static generation mechanisms between the vehicle and road surface?

I don't know the answers to all of these questions, but I'm full of them.

I think being a gearhead in the age of the electric vehicle is going to way more interesting and much cleaner! 

I make less than $20/hr and $4k would be a stretch.

This is more in my bracket.

On a modest salary I'm fond of the bus pass/ticket option. Quite economical. Big quiet electric buses would be cool!

[Just plain old Punisher]

I want a vehicle that I don't have to worry about charging every few hours.

I'm sorta a battery nut anyways. I'm an engineer dammit, I ALWAYS like to have a healthy reserve/backup. So this would mean that I would be stopping every 100KM or so just to recharge the battery because it dropped below 50 percent. My damn neurotic behavior regarding batteries would probably prevent me from ever driving something like this.

[Nemesis]

I want a vehicle that I don't have to worry about charging every few hours.

I'm sorta a battery nut anyways. I'm an engineer dammit, I ALWAYS like to have a healthy reserve/backup. So this would mean that I would be stopping every 100KM or so just to recharge the battery because it dropped below 50 percent. My damn neurotic behavior regarding batteries would probably prevent me from ever driving something like this.

I saw a guy on a handicapped scooter yesterday, battery powered of course. He had a small trailer with a gas motor/generator setup for recharging.  A relative of yours perhaps?

[toasty0]

His scooter was handicapped?