Nissan Leaf test drive- electric

Pine- thanks for the picture, it does look funky. I think these cars need to look more normal if they are to catch on, and many in development do look more like normal sedans.

Here is an interesting article I just read, sounds like Toyota is not jumping on the plug-in bandwagon as fast and they have some doubts about Lithium batteries cost. Also absent is Honda, they are typically at the forefront of new tech.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/213920- ... shed-truth

Now it looks like Honda is jumping in! Why do they make these cars so funky looking though?

http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/104 ... d-for-2012

Nice to see Tesla and Toyota are working together on an electric SUV...

http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/1047251_breaking-the-rav4-ev-is-returning-tesla-toyota-confirms

Chevy Volt priced at 41K Nissan Leaf at 32K (before tax credits)

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... x-rebate/1

I am pretty excited about this, love to drive either one. I like that they look like normal cars too.

"The company just announced that the new Chevy Volt will be priced at $41,000 for a base model, which General Motors promises will be fairly well-equipped, and $44,600 fully loaded. A $7,500 federal tax credit will be available to many customers."

Also, Enterprise is going to have the Nissan Leaf for car rentals starting in Jan. - Good way to try one out first! http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/index

Those retail prices are pretty high when you compare the cars to all gas alternatives, even considering the tax credit. I assume the $7500 tax credit is only for a certain number of cars sold?

The sales would be helped if gas prices went back to $4 a gallon. But so far, we haven't seen a huge price increase this summer, when prices usually go up.

I'll assume Enterprise knows what they are doing renting Leafs, because it doesn't make much sense to me as a rental car. I don't think most people renting a car would be in a position to recharge it themselves since they are probably staying at a hotel. Enterprise does have a lot of locations in major cities, though, so I'm thinking they might have a very low price recharge rate if you get the car charged at one of those locations. Hopefully it will work for them!

Good points Pine. I totally agree the prices are too high. This is the reason the technology is taking so long to catch on, not because of some conspiracy by GM to bury it. LOL. But I am still intrigued as an engineer.

How will Enterprise deal with customers getting their cars charged?

SC, that is a good question. I think they are in limited areas where there are planned chargers and 120V connections. Maybe at a hotel parking lot. The charger should be onboard.

Another thing is the resale value of these cars at anywhere near 100,000 miles will be nil because of the worn out battery pack.

One thing you can hope for if you get an electric car is that by the time the batteries go out in several years, new batteries will be cheaper and have even better range. Technoloy is still rapidly evolving.

I remember early Ni-MH AA batteries were rated at 1200 mAh. Now they are rated twice that, keep a charge much longer in storage, and cost much less.

Then again, the manufacturer may try to rip you off due to the custom package the batteries are in. But there will probably also be a big secondary market for replacement car batteries at much lower cost, as you see for notebook computer batteries today.

But there will probably also be a big secondary market for replacement car batteries at much lower cost, as you see for notebook computer batteries today.

Pine, I have heard that too, and the marketing people are good at promising upgrades. However, these are big high voltage/energy battery packs, the controls, software, and power electronics for charging and regenerative braking control are all designed for the original battery. Plug and play replacement is not so simple. Expect to see flaming battery packs, explosions, and fried back yard mechanics! This is no joke, I worked on these cars. The EMT guys are nervous about this as well for extracting accident victims. It is a high voltage battery pack you are driving around in surrounded by conductive metal. The lawyers are currently sharpening their pencils no doubt.