Nissan Leaf

[daniel]

My guess would be that Nissan, like a lot of car manufacturers, does it's research using marketing research firms. These firms typically:

1. Tell the company paying them what they thing the company wants to hear.

2. Use a "pet" set of "subjects" that very likely don't represent the actual purchasers of the product. (just ask any long-time Prius owner)

3. Even if they don't do #2, the subjects are likely to give the tatemae answer rather than the honne answer because they think that's what's wanted.

(tatemae means public, official, or politically correct, honne means private or the way things really are).

I don't know anything about the above, but I do know that whenever I take a survey, the choices often do not include my answer. Sometimes any answer I give will be misleading. Surveys can be constructed to give false results even if the selection of participants is legit and participants answer as honestly as they can.

I'm not surprised if environment weighs heavier than operating cost when buying an EV. When cost is the main factor, the choice is always a used car. For me it's environment + the personal pleasure of a smooth, quiet car. Considering the relatively high cost and short range of the Leaf, again I'd think the environment is a bigger consideration than cost savings. Oh, yes: Convenience (no gas stations) is a big one also, though in the case of the Leaf that's balanced by the inconvenience of not being able to "fill up" in five minutes virtually anywhere. There's also the fun factor. Even my little Zap Xebra was the most fun car I'd ever driven before I got the Tesla.

 

[widodh]

Nissan LEAF gets makeover for Europe

- New look
- Lower price
- More range

Glad that's finally in the open.

3-phase charging would be nice for a Leaf in mainland Europe. 3x16A would recharge a Leaf at a public charging station in about 2.5 hours, that would be useful.

 

[jerry33]

I'm not surprised if environment weighs heavier than operating cost when buying an EV. When cost is the main factor, the choice is always a used car.

Well, yes. So is eating beans from a can and living in a one room furnished apartment :smile:

For me it's environment + the personal pleasure of a smooth, quiet car. Considering the relatively high cost and short range of the Leaf, again I'd think the environment is a bigger consideration than cost savings. Oh, yes: Convenience (no gas stations) is a big one also, though in the case of the Leaf that's balanced by the inconvenience of not being able to "fill up" in five minutes virtually anywhere.

Me--I dislike spending money on something that I only get a receipt for. Gas and electricity (and taxes) top the list. I don't like paying money to either and I'll pay a premium to reduce the cost. (Examples: I have a 19 SEER a/c rather than the 14 SEER that is normally installed and a Takagi tankless water heater. I also have a number of other energy saving items.) I'd also rather pay less to the electric company rather than more to the oil company--hence my reservation for a Model S. The environment is a nice bonus but it's not the primary consideration. I looked at solar to power the Tesla, but where I live it isn't quite there yet--but it's really close. Had Solar City offered the pay-as-you-go plan that their website shows, I'd have solar now but the only plan they offer is pay-the-entire-amount-up-front. And the cost for that is too high to be viable.

I'll go along 110% with the convenience part. Gas stations and dealer service are the bane of most cars.

There's also the fun factor. Even my little Zap Xebra was the most fun car I'd ever driven before I got the Tesla.

The fun-to-drive part depends on what you think fun-to-drive means. I've found the Prius to be the most fun-to-drive car I've had so far. I'm hoping the Model S will be even better--even though the styling is so mundane.

 

[dpeilow]

Nissans Venucia JV will build Leaf look-alike electric car in China by 2015

 

[domenick]

Looks like the Leaf with a smile.

 

[sp4rk]

22,000,000 sold!

Lucky Nissan.

They already sold 22,000,000 Leafs!

See video here:

Nissan Leaf rolls into Northeast Ohio more than a year after sales started in other states

Not a positive report.

And the comments are, as usual, ignorant.

 

[TEG]

 

[PeterW]

REVE - Regulación Eólica con Vehículos Eléctricos -

Not a bad start for a population of 4.9 million

 

[Doug_G]

Nissan turns auto/home power-sharing into reality

Nissan turns auto/home power-sharing into reality

Nissan launched here what it calls its “Leaf-to-home” power supply system, designed to turn Nissan’s electric vehicle Leaf into a backup electricity supply for residential homes.

 

[daniel]

^ Cool.

 

[NuclearPowered]

Well, yes. So is eating beans from a can and living in a one room furnished apartment :smile:



Me--I dislike spending money on something that I only get a receipt for. Gas and electricity (and taxes) top the list. I don't like paying money to either and I'll pay a premium to reduce the cost. (Examples: I have a 19 SEER a/c rather than the 14 SEER that is normally installed and a Takagi tankless water heater. I also have a number of other energy saving items.) I'd also rather pay less to the electric company rather than more to the oil company--hence my reservation for a Model S. The environment is a nice bonus but it's not the primary consideration. I looked at solar to power the Tesla, but where I live it isn't quite there yet--but it's really close. Had Solar City offered the pay-as-you-go plan that their website shows, I'd have solar now but the only plan they offer is pay-the-entire-amount-up-front. And the cost for that is too high to be viable.

I'll go along 110% with the convenience part. Gas stations and dealer service are the bane of most cars.



The fun-to-drive part depends on what you think fun-to-drive means. I've found the Prius to be the most fun-to-drive car I've had so far. I'm hoping the Model S will be even better--even though the styling is so mundane.

I agree completely with everything you said except I did buy the PV. Reducing reoccurring costs is important to me.

Environment maybe 20% factor in purchase of Prius or S.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[TEG]

There appear to be a number of problems vexing Leaf owners by looking at the troubleshooting section of the mynissanleaf forum. It's hard to determine the rate from that because there are a lot more Leaf owners than Roadster owners and the Leaf hasn't been out for as long. Right now the big concern for the Leaf is battery degradation in hot climates. We'll know more in a couple of years whether this is a real concern or just instrumentation artifacts. With the liquid cooling, the Model S shouldn't have a problem.

I regularly meet with a large group of LEAF owners. No one in the group has reported any drivetrain problems. I have 12K miles, some are up to 25K already.
Yes, LEAF battery degradation is something that many are watching closely. For many, the < 100 mile rage is already cutting it close, so when the range drops 20%+ you will start to hear more and more about LEAF owners having to give up on their LEAF due to dwindling range. I haven't heard of any LEAF owners getting a battery pack replacement yet, but I bet that is coming.
In terms of LEAF problems, I think blown tires, and slow repairs are some of the bigger concerns.
Apparently the OEM tires are a bit on the fragile side. (So far, no problems with mine though.)


The most active LEAF topics tend to be about lack of charging infrastructure.
(Including broken EVSEs, ICEd charge spots, etc.)

 

[Grendal]

Doubling sales after the Tennessee plant opens? An article at ABG:

Nissan expects Leaf sales to double when TN plant comes online

 

[TEG]

Some reasons why sales might increase:

* More range?
* Improved styling?
* Improved performance?
* Lower price?
* More robust advertising?
* More public J1772+CHAdeMO?
* 6.6kW charger, and wireless/inductive charging option?
* Gas prices go up?

I expect at least some of the above...

 

[Dave EV]

Missed one - supply - At the very least the Volt has more than nearly 3x the inventory on the lots in comparison. Nissan has been claiming that battery production is the limiting factor with only one plant in Japan supplying the world with batteries for the LEAF as well as Renault products. Supply is limited enough that Renault is getting batteries from LG when they'd rather be getting them from their partner Nissan/AESC.

Aside from that, I hope that all of the mentioned changes occur - but I suspect it will be more along the lines of minor tweaks kind of like the 2013 Volt.

IMO biggest limitations are price and range, especially once you factor in 20-30% battery degradation after 5-10 years.

 

[vfx]

Some reasons why sales might increase:
...

Wider market advertising and distribution into smaller areas.

 

[JRP3]

Yes being able to walk into a dealer and actually buy a vehicle might help sales a bit.

 

[TEG]

In case anyone missed it, a LEAF owner has been doing a "BC to BC" (Baja California to British Columbia / Mexico to Canada) run in their LEAF this past week:
My Nissan Leaf Forum View topic - Mexico to Canada via Electric Highway June 12-20, 2012

His 'adventure' has shown that the trip is possible, although not easy, and also time consuming.
Also, we are learning that frequent QC (multiple times per day) really does make the battery pack hot.
Nissan has been giving mixed messages about multiple QC per day sessions, but from what I am reading, I would not want to do it myself.
The CHAdeMO QC Highway through Oregon and Washington still doesn't make the LEAF into a great road-trip car...

 

[JRP3]

You have to figure that at 65kw even a 4% efficiency loss in the cells generates 2.6kw's of heat. Obviously less of an issue in cooler temps.

 

[rabar10]

Another article that notes the LEAF battery's susceptibility to heat, in this case early results from cars in AZ:

GreenCarReports - More Nissan LEAF Battery Loss, Nissan Doesn't Blink