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NISSAN | Nissan Will Launch New Season for Mobility in April by Starting Pre-Orders for Nissan LEAF

Charging facilities installed at Nissan dealers nationwide

Before the release of Nissan LEAF in December, 200-volt regular chargers will be installed at all Nissan dealers nationwide, a total of 2,200 locations. In addition, about 200 dealers will have quick-charging facilities. A quick charger provides 80% of battery capacity in less than 30 minutes. For the convenience of Nissan LEAF drivers, at least one quick-charge unit will be available within a 40-kilometer radius throughout the country.

Today, Nissan also announced that it is developing a new quick charger that is almost half the current market price of quick chargers available today. This newly developed quick charger, which will be installed at 200 Nissan dealers nationwide by December, is the first to be put into practical use by an automaker. The unit will be available commercially in the future.


Also: NISSAN | Zero Emission Website
 
So they gave up on the option to lease the battery pack?

People talk of the threat to Coda and iMiev, but what about Tesla "Bluestar" (Model 3)?

A few years ago when Tesla seemed the only game going, some speculated that a big Japanese company could just take the idea and come in quicker and cheaper and it seems that day may be here soon.

Will Tesla have some sort of response to the Leaf? I haven't heard them weight in on it at all so far.
 
I don't think we will hear from Tesla beside the usual, "We encourage others to develop Electric cars" type line.

As of today I feel 10 times better about Tesla's technology. For a while there they had the all of the absolute best minds in the Electric vehicle business under one roof. What's left is still great science and some still really good people.

Not sure if they can stay ahead of that curve over time though. Nissan will learn and Roadsters will be reverse engineered.
 
I don't think any company is seriously looking at going with Tesla's battery model, and what else is there to reverse engineer? For general EV sedans you don't need maximum motor or battery power, just affordable and reliable products. Large format prismatic LiFePO4 or LiMN is easier to deal with than the thousands of LiCo cells Tesla uses. Bluestar is so far down the road who knows if it will ever come to pass at this point, or in what form.
 
This is great news! Nissan has a good name and a good reputation, and they are clearly dedicated to owning the EV market. At that very reasonable, affordable price I think they can pull it off. Nissan would be like the Toyota/Honda/Hyundai of EVs. Coda and BYD don't stand the slightest chance. I do think Tesla is likely to establish themselves in the high-end luxury market with their model S and future models. Tesla would be like the Mercedes/BMW/Lexus of EVs. They already own the exotics market with the Roadster, and they've established a name and a reputation in the EV business. I might add, too, that Nissan wouldn't be making the LEAF EV if it weren't for Tesla, and I could say the same about the Chevy Volt PHEV or any other EV entering production at this time. Tesla gave the electric car a jump-start like nobody else could.

Edit: For what it's worth, here are the links to the official announcements with details:
http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/pricing.jsp
http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/news.jsp?item=30
 
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So they gave up on the option to lease the battery pack?
I forget when and where I read it, perhaps on ABG. But I believe there was some legal issue with trying to lease the battery separately since it's considered part of the drivetrain. So they could either lease the entire car or sell the entire car. This also has obvious ramifications for Tesla's Model S sales model.

People talk of the threat to Coda and iMiev, but what about Tesla "Bluestar" (Model 3)?
Hard to get too worried about a threat to that which does not exist.
 
Coda and BYD don't stand the slightest chance.
Not to get too off topic, but BYD will likely do fine with the Chinese domestic market and whatever protectionist actions their government takes.

But yes, Coda is likely toast. The point is that this Leaf pricing puts pressure on all EV manufacturers. Good for Nissan. Ultimately good for the consumer, we hope.
 
When I heard this news, I immediately thought: game-changer.

Coda is definitely dead with this news, and Tesla's Bluestar plan is probably also threaten (although Tesla can kind of position it as more of luxury car instead). The Infiniti EV will probably be the one that eats into Tesla's market though. Come to think of it, this changes things for all the small EV startups: it will be very hard to match the Leaf (even for the other major automakers).

However, we must not be too happy because we haven't really seen the demand yet. Although the response from plug-in fans are overwhelmingly positive, my brief survey of comments from other more mainstream sources still seems to indicate an overall negative response. There are still the same doubts about range and charging time, insistence that the car doesn't make any sense unless it costs drastically less than a gas car, as well as general anti-EV comments like the thing about shifting pollution to powerplants.

But overall, I feel this is excellent news for EVs.
 
...I do think Tesla is likely to establish themselves in the high-end luxury market with their model S and future models. Tesla would be like the Mercedes/BMW/Lexus of EVs. They already own the exotics market with the Roadster, ...http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/news.jsp?item=30

I thought the same, but I recall Tesla had aspirations to be more mainstream, more big... The "GM" (well at least the old giant GM of yesterday) of the car business not a "boutique" manufacturer.


http://www.teslamotors.com/media/press_room.php?id=2211
...Tesla’s goal is to produce increasingly affordable cars to mainstream buyers – relentlessly driving down the cost of EVs...
 
When I heard this news, I immediately thought: game-changer.

Coda is definitely dead with this news, and Tesla's Bluestar plan is probably also threaten (although Tesla can kind of position it as more of luxury car instead). The Infiniti EV will probably be the one that eats into Tesla's market though. Come to think of it, this changes things for all the small EV startups: it will be very hard to match the Leaf (even for the other major automakers).

However, we must not be too happy because we haven't really seen the demand yet. Although the response from plug-in fans are overwhelmingly positive, my brief survey of comments from other more mainstream sources still seems to indicate an overall negative response. There are still the same doubts about range and charging time, insistence that the car doesn't make any sense unless it costs drastically less than a gas car, as well as general anti-EV comments like the thing about shifting pollution to powerplants.

But overall, I feel this is excellent news for EVs.

I concur with this quote. I haven't been on here for a while...but once I heard about the price of the LEAF, I thought the same thing...gamechanger. I'll throw this price at a POS just to try it out. Now I'm thinking I may put down my deposit just for the hell of it. I wish it were an American company, but so far, I'm not seeing a BEV like this. FINALLY, I'll get my 32 mile commute without oil!
 
Nissan is doing a classic "game theory" move. Very good price along with possibility of large production volumes. What this means is that anyone who undercuts Nissan Leaf will have to contend with Nissan further reducing the price and the ability at that lower price point to flood the market because of high production potential. Essentially Nissan's credibility for waging a "price war" is very high.

My guess is few will directly challenge Leaf for many years - there will be EREVs from GM etc, parallel Plugins from Toyota etc. Not sure what Ford will do. Chrysler / Fiat will have the Fiat 500 EV - the smaller EV option (same for Mini-E and Smart-E). Honda will continue to beat the dead hydrogen horse. But no compact BEV challenges.

If what Nissan is threatening - 8 models in next 3 years - is true, they would be owning the EV market for years.

As for Model S - imagine a similarly aggressively priced 200 mile range Infinity EV $40K after rebate. Can Tesla sell in large enough numbers to break even - $400 million manufacturing plant would dictate large break-even numbers.
 
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If you are in California are considering this car then don't hesitate. Ca has another 5K rebate on top of the Fed 7.5. The problem is there is only so much money in that kitty. Last time it ran out in March/April 09.

the new batch of cash still might run out before Dec but waiting to get a LEAF will guarantee it.
 
Unfortunately no such rebate here in Seattle - but fortunately we have no state income tax ;-)

There is a sales tax exemption that expires on 1/1/2011. That might get extended ... otherwise purchase will be better than leasing.

The Washington sales tax exemption is nearly as good as California's $5K rebate. Our sales tax rate is about 10% (and may actually be higher by the time the state legislature decides on a budget). The leaf costs $32,500 (before the federal credit, which is the price that would be used to compute the sales tax), so the sales tax would have been $3250. Of course, if you'd have paid the sales tax you could deduct THAT from your federal income tax, so it's not quite as good as it sounds, but still pretty good.

In the case of the Roadster, the sales tax exemption is worth more than the federal credit.
 
Since you all are on a tax credit tangent, I'll post my question here. Can anyone point me to a site that tracks all of the state/federal tax incentives -- including their amounts and expiration dates? I thought PlugInAmerica had one but I couldn't find it when I looked for it recently.

Also:

Nissan is doing a classic "game theory" move.

Very interesting insights, thanks!
 
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BTW, Nissan has confirmed that the Leaf will be available *statewide* in California this year.

My favorite local Nissan dealer is Lithia of Fresno. For the sake of my local friends on the forum, their Leaf webpage is 2010 Nissan LEAF – 100% electric car, 0 emissions If you're also in the Fresno area, why not give them a call. Ask for Nissan sales, and Curtis will be happy to put you on their waiting list so they can call you when the first Leaf rolls in to their lot. (If you're in a different area, you might call your local dealer and find out if they have a waiting list) This is likely to be the first mass-produced EV for sale - even if you're not interested in buying, if you're anything like me you'd still be interested in looking :p)
 
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