New all-electric car, the Nissan Leaf

[paddlenbike]

For quite some time I have wanted an all-electric car. I am sure many of you recall the countless hours I spent building up a Toyota Supra Turbo, then were shocked to see me sell it. I loved the car but I sold it because 99% of the time I went on a long trip it sat at home because I needed to drive the 4Runner. The reasons varied, but I either needed 4WD, the space, the long roof line for carrying kayaks, the towing capability or quite often my long trip revolved completely around adventure travel with the 4Runner. This is why an all-electric car would suit my needs really well--a 100-150 mile range is all I need in a car. I would love to have a nearly maintenance-free electric motor and not have to pay a fuel bill. Nissan will be the first to release a 5-passenger affordable all-electric car in the U.S. and they are working with the US Dept of Energy to help build and finance charging stations on our highways so extended travel is possible. The car is called the Nissan Leaf, it is slated to go on sale next year and the range is around 100 miles. It's not the best looking car but it is far better than the golf carts other manufacturers make and it should go for economy car prices. Plus the government will offer hefty tax rebates if you purchase one. This, or something like it, might be my next car.

http://www.carblog.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/2010-nissan-leaf-electric-car-2.jpg

http://www.topgreencars.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/nissan-leaf-electric-vehicle.jpg

http://www.icars.sg/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/nissan-leaf-3.jpg

[oly884]

I'd rather kiss Rosie O'Donnell on the lips than be seen in that thing.

That is the ugliest vehicle I've ever seen.

That's not to give/take credit from the notion of an all electric vehicle, just the styling.

[Nick]

I need all my truck for the reasons that you listed and then some....however, when I was commuting 100 miles a day and the weather was good (spring/summer/fall [4WD not required] ), my 17.5MPG took a large chunk out of my paycheck. Likewise, back when I was living in NYC and commuting 25 miles (which took nearly 1 1/2 hours one way) , I was getting under 8MPG in traffic, which hurt too.

Such a vehicle would've been a great asset provided it was cheap and reliable. Especially so when gas was 4.79!

I could never have an all electric car such as the Leaf as my one and only mode of transport. However, as a second vehicle...it would excellent for going work/grocery shopping/short trips.

PS. I loved that Supra. I have a Cressida sitting in the garage with a 7MGE that's got 178k on it and I'm pondering what to do with it! Great engine! Lucky kid you sold it to!

[gilby4runner]

oly would agree with you on the looks of the car but nissan has released something even more disturbing....

The Cube
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9G_bHOr1YFKUzUAJC.jzbkF/SIG=123m4seo3/EXP=1250109227/**http%3A//www.canadiandriver.com/news/040112-1.htm

[YotaFun]

The Cube is already on the road sir gil.
At least I think they are.
I saw one driving on the road today actually on my way to school thinking, "no way, someone actually bought it...."
I also passed by the Nissan Dealership by my dads and could have swore I spied the Cube.

As for the c-note, I haven't heard anything about it...

[4x4mike]

The Cube is already on the road sir gil.
At least I think they are.
I saw one driving on the road today actually on my way to school thinking, "no way, someone actually bought it...."
I also passed by the Nissan Dealership by my dads and could have swore I spied the Cube.

As for the c-note, I haven't heard anything about it...


I've seen a couple of the cubes this past week. As for the leaf it's great technology and I think great for some people. I do not want another car (unless it's a beater-actually something that is the complete opposite of the leaf) and do not want to get rid of a car. For the most part a leaf (or something like it) would only fit half the bill for a car in my household and most of our trips are in town and do not require 4wd. They're just too small, expensive and unattractive. I guess we're (Americans for that matter) just used to and comfortable with a regular 'ol gasser with storage room and it would take a little more than this to make us change.

[paddlenbike]

PS. I loved that Supra. I have a Cressida sitting in the garage with a 7MGE that's got 178k on it and I'm pondering what to do with it! Great engine! Lucky kid you sold it to!


It would be hard to like a car more than I liked that one. I am still in contact with the guy that bought it. Here (http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/Supra/Supra_in_Reno1.jpg) is a pic he sent me of the car.

Anyways, I have plans to do solar on my house someday and the thought of protecting myself from raising energy costs really appeals to me. The power company where I live is planning to raise electricity costs another 19.8% over the next year and that is after several smaller increases in the past few years. Having the ability to produce my own electricity and isolate myself from $5/gal fuel prices is appealing--you might all wish you had an ugly car just like me! :D

[gilby4runner]

It would be hard to like a car more than I liked that one. I am still in contact with the guy that bought it. Here (http://home.off-road.com/~kemanuel/Supra/Supra_in_Reno1.jpg) is a pic he sent me of the car.

Anyways, I have plans to do solar on my house someday and the thought of protecting myself from raising energy costs really appeals to me. The power company where I live is planning to raise electricity costs another 19.8% over the next year and that is after several smaller increases in the past few years. Having the ability to produce my own electricity and isolate myself from $5/gal fuel prices is appealing--you might all wish you had an ugly car just like me! :D

I admire your goals! I have considered solar for our new house. I wish i would have gone ahead and installed it when we were building.

[paddlenbike]

I admire your goals! I have considered solar for our new house. I wish i would have gone ahead and installed it when we were building.


I will be getting an $8,000 tax credit early next year for being a first-time home buyer (I close escrow in two days!), so I thought I should spend it on solar before I blow it on something else. There are additional tax credits for going solar, so essentially I would be using my tax credits for more credits and of course creating jobs for people and saving the environment at the same time. :D Okay, so I'm pushing it a little but you get the idea.

I have this exact roof and there are solar restrictions in my neighborhood, but these will probably fly...solar roof tiles.

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/bto/20071114/Lumeta_Solar_Flat_5-23-07_005_540x359.jpg

I plan to check into it and see what kind of utility savings I can get. The thought of using the sun to charge up my car is fun.

[CJM]

A beat up CRX, old corolla or such would be 10x cheaper and although not as efficient at least no payments or new technology that could go wrong.

[paddlenbike]

A beat up CRX, old corolla or such would be 10x cheaper and although not as efficient at least no payments or new technology that could go wrong.


Ah come on, what's the fun in that? But to answer your question, a beat up car does not meet any of my needs. Aside from the environmental aspects, it doesn't protect me from rising electrical costs, is not 'almost' free to run and requires maintenance, something I don't want.

[YotaFun]

Good thing your going solar if you plan on going with the electric car, cause that would be a pretty penny to charge every night.

[DHC6twinotter]

I would love to have an all electric DD. I've had thoughts about doing an electric car conversion to an IS300 or similar car.

I think the Chevy Volt looks better than the Nissan. I've heard rumors of Toyota building an electric car too.

I like the idea, and building a home that doesn't depend on a grid is pretty awesome too. :thumbup:

[CJM]

Ah come on, what's the fun in that? But to answer your question, a beat up car does not meet any of my needs. Aside from the environmental aspects, it doesn't protect me from rising electrical costs, is not 'almost' free to run and requires maintenance, something I don't want.


The reason I like an old car is simply for the fact is something you ca repair yourself and parts are abundant. I see an old car as not having any payments too.

An electric is to untested imho and it being electric I wouldnt even dare want to touch anything related to its engine/control systems myself for fear I would mess it up. Of course it will need to be maintained in some way, nothing lasts forever. If you want 0 environmental impact I think you would be better served riding a bike.

Maybe in 10 years when electric is more established and tested I would think about it, but not now at all.

[4x4mike]

x2 on the bike. I've put on 330 miles in the past 9 days and driven about 25 commuting for the past 2 weeks. If I were going to buy something I'd get a motorcycle.

[YotaFun]

x2 on the bike. I've put on 330 miles in the past 9 days and driven about 25 commuting for the past 2 weeks. If I were going to buy something I'd get a motorcycle.


x3, I originally was going to buy a 1st gen with the money I get from selling the GTI but I am starting to think motorcycle

[cplvc]

I have this exact roof and there are solar restrictions in my neighborhood, but these will probably fly...solar roof tiles.

Ken, which company sells these particular tiles?

[paddlenbike]

Ken, which company sells these particular tiles?


JC, they are made by Lumeta and they are the "solar flat tile" line.
http://www.lumetasolar.com/

-Ken

[Scooter25]

I don't think the Leaf looks all that bad. Much better looking than a Hide-Prius or Honda's new Prius look-a-like. The range however does leave a little to be desired.

[cplvc]

Thanks Ken, I have that exact roof tile you posted in your previous post, that's why I was interested. I want to cut down on grid electricity usage. I have Edison's summer savings program which helps a lot.

I agree with Scott the leaf doesn't look all that bad. On Tuesday after I read this on here, ABC or one of those local channels had a special on all-electric cars. They reviewed the Leaf, BMW Mini, chevy volt(??) and a few others including Tesla. Also different programs as far as charging stations or battery exchange stations.

A couple of friends own Tesla's and they're really great, but way out of my league.

[Bob98SR5]

Good thing your going solar if you plan on going with the electric car, cause that would be a pretty penny to charge every night.


actually, the cost to recharge is minimal, according to the guys i know here who are piloting electric ford hybrids---at least the ones whose batteries are regenerated during driving. recharging at night, the rates are at their lowest.

[paddlenbike]

I don't think the Leaf looks all that bad. Much better looking than a Hide-Prius or Honda's new Prius look-a-like. The range however does leave a little to be desired.


This thread of full of electric car bashing, but I think folks aren't considering that the last generation of electric cars looked like this:
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/223/images/citicar.jpg

While I certainly wouldn't call the Leaf an attractive car, at least it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb like the photo above and it has all the modern safety and luxury features (airbags, air conditioning, etc.) of a modern gas car.

While an electric car may not suit everyone's needs, it suits mine 100%. Statistics have shown that most Americans have sub-40 mile daily commutes that could take advantage of this kind of technology. The home charging stations are designed to start charging the car at night (offpeak) when electricity is only 5 cents/kwh. They say at those rates it would cost 53 cents to charge a car for a 40-mile commute. If you have solar obviously it would cost much less. I am thrilled to death that today's news is filled with talk of the race for the best electric car. For once the US Govt is taking an active role in trying to beat other countries to the punch. Toyota licensed most of the good hybrid technology and now many of today's hybrids have to pay Toyota to use bits and pieces of its technology for every car sold. We don't want to have to do that with our electric cars too. Electric motors are very simple and I feel pretty strongly that this country is capable of building a very reliable electric motor and car. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.

[MTL_4runner]

I think the Honda Insight was a far uglier vehicle.
......but first prize definately goes to the GM EV1.

I don't agree the Nissan Leaf is ugly but it's clearly not a "manly" vehicle either.
The Chevy Volt has better styling in that department for sure.

[Whitey]

You should do a cost down analysis of going solar for your home. I'd have a hard time believeing you'd ever get the money back you put into it. I did a ton of market/business/economic analysis for a local solar company when I was in grad school and couldn't believe how cost prohibitive it was.
If you're doing it for financial reasons, you'd probably make 10x your money if you invested it wisely.
If you're doing it for environmental reasons then I applaud you.

[Whitey]

I admire your goals! I have considered solar for our new house. I wish i would have gone ahead and installed it when we were building.



I will be getting an $8,000 tax credit early next year for being a first-time home buyer (I close escrow in two days!), so I thought I should spend it on solar before I blow it on something else. There are additional tax credits for going solar, so essentially I would be using my tax credits for more credits and of course creating jobs for people and saving the environment at the same time. :D Okay, so I'm pushing it a little but you get the idea.

I have this exact roof and there are solar restrictions in my neighborhood, but these will probably fly...solar roof tiles.

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/bto/20071114/Lumeta_Solar_Flat_5-23-07_005_540x359.jpg

I plan to check into it and see what kind of utility savings I can get. The thought of using the sun to charge up my car is fun.


When I was researching this stuff about 2 years ago, my company was pioneering these shingle-syle panels. I don't mean to be a debbie-downer but back then they were insanely inefficient, but I plead ignorance to weather or not they are any better now. I also lived in New England at the time. Now that I live in Dallas, where it's MUCH sunnier, this has piqued my interest, albeit on a smaller scale.