The Leaf is already getting a lot of bad press for its laughably inadequate driving range - less than 70 real world miles (the EPA tagged it at around
65 to 70 miles or so). Remember,Nissan originally promised 100 miles, no great shakes, either. I wouldn't look at a car that could only go 100 miles.
Unless Nissan quickly ups the battery pack, they are through. So long "affordable" EV (not really all that affordable, actually, considering what little you
get. The Volt will clobber the Leaf, and already is, despite what I believe to be an obsolete EREV technology from GM. If the obsolete EREV technology doesn't kill the Volt first, then the BYD **DM probably will - has the same technology, looks better, has a 10 year battery warranty (versus 7 years for the Volt) , has a driving range of 60 miles, 33% more than the Volt, and costs around 60% what the Volt does. Their electric drive technology has already tested for a year or so with real-world Chinese taxicabs and is ready for US launch in 2011. On paper, it's no contest, but we'll see.
As for Tesla strategy, they have produced a brilliant chassis design with the Model S. You don't just throw those things away and considering the plaudits and reputation I'm certain they will garner from their Model S, you parlay that into derivative models - SUVs, etc. A new roadster sedan or pure sports car
could easily be spun off using that chassis. Quite frankly, Tesla is a premium grade automaker. I'm not sure I want to see them dilute themselves
trying to occupy every niche out there. Right now electric drive can really only prosper at the high end of the market. In the future, how that will change will depend, as always, totally on the price and capabilities of batteries, which Tesla cannot affect. No other automaker can either. The advantage to the would-be automaker from the move to electric is that the price of entry has dropped way down. You don't need to worry about building/buying
so many damn parts or keeping up with so many technologies (fuel emissions, brakes, transmissions, engines, etc., etc.). The vehicle has become a whole lot simpler, and that is making things better all the way around - for the consumer as well as those building the vehicles. Electric vehicles are intrinsically simpler, more reliable, cheaper to build (excepting the batteries) and more efficient. Had their been a practical battery back at the turn of the previous century,
the chances of anyone selling a gasoline powered car would have been zero. No one would ever have heard of Henry Ford.
