Comments on: First Photos and Video of All-Electric Nissan Leaf

By: calvin

calvin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:56:46 +0000

I think it looks pretty sleek too. It’s got the Kammback profile like the Prius, which gives it the classic eco-vehicle look. But I think the design works, especially with the futuristic style that the semi-angular lines produce. People who dislike eco-vehicles will naturally shun the design, but a Kammtail reduces drag and only adds to fuel efficiency. I wonder what the aerodynamic qualities of the vehicle is.

In a way it reminds me of Mercedes’ “Boxfish” car:
http://www.dancewithshadows.com/auto/mercedes-benz-bionic-car-gallery.asp
–which has a ridiculously low drag coefficient of just 0.095 (in comparison the Ford Focus’ drag coefficient is 0.32~0.38, varying by year).

Being able to design a stylish _and_ practical vehicle body with excellent aerodynamic characteristics is no mean feat, and it could be a major area of improving fuel economy in the future.

By: Nel

Nel — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:57:48 +0000

Can’t wait for this car to come out! I’d trade R1000 (South African Rands) in petrol a month for a once-every-second-day-recharge any day! It’s about time greedy oil whores had a change of heart! Well done Nissan! And no, I don’t get the complaints either, I think it’s a lovely looking car, and I’d be the first to purchase it in SA, maybe in black? If there are no variations in exterior and interior colours, I’ll still purchase it though. Did some thorough research, and these guys are clued up, they have really thought of everything well knowing that us as consumers are going to complain and ask a lot of questions… If you ask me though, it’s not going to be a difficult car to sell, not even looks wise, I think she’s gorgoeus!

By: Marcel

Marcel — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:42:38 +0000

Can’t wait to get one!

By: Geddy2

Geddy2 — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:47:14 +0000

some+sane

What a bonehead!

By: Geddy

Geddy — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:21:08 +0000

Mattin is right, not all Americans are boneheads.
There are several some people living in Wyoming I hear.
The rest are boneheads.
They fall into two categories:
The ones that think they're 'saving the planet' by buying a Prius and the ones who say they're 'eco' whatever and drive a Tundra to work.
The irony! The country with the highest capability of producing efficient cars is the country with the worst track record of buying efficient cars.

By: Ace

Ace — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 22:59:24 +0000

ex-EV1 driver – If you’re still coming to this page, visit my website again and send me an e-mail. I’d enjoy talking with someone who has real-world experience with an electric vehicle.

By: Fred and Barney

Fred and Barney — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:11:07 +0000

An electric car would use about 40% as much fossil fuel as a gas car.

By: ex-EV1 driver

ex-EV1 driver — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:52:18 +0000

Ace,
I wasn't yelling, I was just being lazy by pasting the title from another source that happened to be capitalized.
While you're clearly sincere but wisely skeptical, I suspect that many of the others who were quick to respond were among the usual host of anti-EV shills.
Your bike looks cool. I keep hoping for a real electric motorcycle but to date, no one has produced one within my price range.
You're correct in that there aren't very many really good OEM electric vehicle components available today.
Good luck with the ProjectVF.

By: ex-EV1 driver

ex-EV1 driver — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:46:09 +0000

Ok Ace, your questions seem straight out of the "GM guide for anti-EV Shills" book but, if you're really sincerely interested in the answers, let me try to help a bit here:
If my experience as an EV1 and Tesla Roadster driver is any indication, the 100 Mile EPA Range is probably what you can expect to get driving at about 60 mph on the freeway without air conditioning on. At city speeds below 50 mph, if you take it easy on the acceleration and deceleration, you should also get about the 100 mile per charge rate. Of course, that will be taxing your battery a lot if you run the battery down every day. I don't recommend that buyers plan on this car if you have to drive more than 80 miles per charge on a daily basis. If your work is more than about 30 miles away from home, I recommend you try to find charging at work. Your wind power farm company should be friendly to this. I'll also remind folks that the 100 miles is probably at beginning of life. As your battery gets older the max range will decrease.
I doubt that you'll see much deviation in max range with 2 passengers but 3 or 4 big ones might have an impact.
Heating and Air Conditioning (~1 - 2 KW) could take a 5 - 10% hit on your range. Headlights (60 W) won't affect it in a measurable manner.
Only Nissan can give you the price and you'll definitely have it before you have to sign on the dotted line. I'm hearing around $30K but I don't know if that includes the battery. If you like the car, figure out what price you can swing now, start saving up and keep driving whatever you're driving now so you can buy when you have enough money saved.
I suspect we'll see the kinds of stores that line the interstate rest stops (Subway, KFC, MacDonalds, Starbucks, Denny's, etc) as well as those who want to put a green face on (Whole Foods Market, Trader Joes, Walmart, Costco, Starbucks, Malls, etc) initially start providing fast chargers. Many Costcos and malls in CA already have (or had) chargers for example. As more cars come on the road, there will be more motivation for stores to put in chargers in order to lure customers to come in. During the time I had my EV1, I had 4 different jobs and was never more than 1 mile from a public charging site in CA. Most of your charging will likely be done slowly at home, during off-peak hours, from the electrical grid, hopefully at greatly reduced rates.
Regarding emissions: EPRI has done a study comparing well-to-wheel emissions from BEVs and the Prius and determined that because of the much greater efficiency of the BEV, the overall emissions of the BEV are a whole lot lower than the Prius, even assuming that the electricity is generated 100% by coal (assuming the coal plant has filters). Even CO2 emissions (which can't be filtered out) from 100% coal are about the same for a BEV as a Prius but they only get better as the energy mix moves away from coal. In summary: at worst, the environmental impact of the BEV is the same as a Prius. In reality: it is much better and getting even better.
I apologize for the harsh reaction but there are a lot of shills who make a lot of money polluting the blogosphere and media with mis-information and inflammatory rhetorical questions against the status quo auto industry.

By: Ace

Ace — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:14:14 +0000

ex-EV1 driver;

I thank you for your reply despite your suspicion of my motives (and your all-caps yelling). I've been led astray too many times with big promises which turned out to provide low results. Rest assured that I'm not anti-electric or anti-environment, just sceptical of vague claims.

About 10 years ago I did a fair amount of research in the then-existing technology of electric vehicles, mostly regarding battery weight, range, and dependability. My plan was a semi-enclosed, single-seater, three-wheeled commuter vehicle. I looked at costs versus results. I analyzed battery life, charging methods, recycling needs for old cells, and so on. At the time I felt the materials and components available to a one-off builder like myself did not yield the results I was hoping for.

I have driven several electric vehicles, most from individuals who used ingenuity to adapt existing cars and trucks. The size and weight of the batteries was a significant drawback, as well as the weight of the donor vehicles which were designed for a different type of use. With that in mind, the homebuilt EVs were fairly efficient and easy to drive despite their increased mass. Knowing the advantages and drawbacks from those crude attempts is partly what motivates me to look at cars such as the Leaf with a quest for details.

If you're interested, take a look at my own attempt at a high-mileage, low-cost vehicle at www.ProjectVF.com and see for yourself that I'm not just someone with an axe to grind. At the moment my plans are to complete the vehicle with an existing ICE powerplant, but the basic design could easily be adapted to batteries and an electric motor. When better technology is available at a comperable price, I'll use it.