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Nissan Unveils All-Electric LEAF
MojoRilla writes "In Japan, Nissan unveiled their all-electric LEAF (press release, and Flash site). Slated to launch in late 2010 in Japan, the US, and Europe, this car will have a 100-mile range, seats 5, has an advanced computer system with remote control by IPhone, and promises to be competitively priced. While this car's range won't work for everyone, it could be a game changer as a commuter car." Recharge time is 8 hours with a 200-volt power source, and "just under 30 minutes with a quick charger" (no further details given) to charge to 80% of capacity.
From TFA: "An iPhone application allows for remote monitoring of battery levels and control of air conditioning in electric cars"
The "remote control" just lets you check if it's charged, and lets you start the AC/heat early to get the cabin comfortable while it's still plugged in.
The Volt is not a BEV, it is an EREV. That is, the Volt is a plug-in series hybrid that uses a small gas engine to drive the electrical system (somewhat like a diesel-electric locomotive except with gasoline). The goal is to run all-electric for 40 miles (covering 75% of commuters) and kick in the gas engine when the battery gets low enough.
And it appears to be on schedule for 2010. More info here and here.
You have posted elsewhere the same thing. What are you, the brain damaged step-child of an Exxon board member?
A DOT vehicle can easily carry the batteries to get you to a charging station or even back to your house.
The hurricane fear mongering is just sad.
And maintenance is far less expensive for an EV, because it's far less complicated mechanically. If you'd done any research on the GM vehicle, you'd know that they basically rotated the tires. There are Priuses with over a hundred thousand miles that haven't needed new batteries. And the batteries will be less expensive too replace than putting in an entirely new engine, so you could literally keep the same car for decades if you kept it rust free.
Honestly, who is paying you to repeat the same inane bullshit?
In my city's case, the power comes mostly from natural gas and nuclear with some hydroelectric, so it's the cars that are the problem.
http://twitter.com/OLDTELEGRAM
Because solar doesn't provide shit for power without a huge surface area. The stuff in the Prius just powers some ventilation fans to keep the air circulating when you're not in the car. That is a huge waste of money in any kind of car scenario.
The article fail to mention that owner doesn't own the battery and the infrastructure of electricity to power the electric car.
Nissan Leaf is part of Project Better Place have been discussed since last year. Wired have a article about it http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-09/ff_agassi?currentPage=all
And this is the presentation about the Project Better Place. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfGEbTcNuzA
The examples are correct. If you go from requiring 5 units to 4 units of fuel, it's the same *saving* (not expenditure) as going from 2 units to 1 unit of fuel. In both cases, you *save* 1 unit. In the second example, 180/12 is actually 15, so you're saving 5 (15-10) units here, as you are when going from 30mpg to 180. (6-1).
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:) Nothing like sitting on the fence :)
His point is therefore that improving the worse-performing engines (SUV's, trucks, vans, lorries, busses, etc.) so that they *save* an extra N units of fuel will be the largest factor in reducing the fuel consumption. For each truck that gains 6 miles/gallon in efficiency, you'd need a car that gained 120 miles/gallon, or 2 that gained 60,
FWIW, I think his argument falters when you take into account the overwhelming number of cars on the road, compared to other vehicles. If you figure a 20:1 ratio, then that saving of 120 miles/gallon is still only (6*20) or 6 miles/gallon/car. The reciprocal problem, however, is one of uptake (you need 20 cars to have their efficiency increased for the effect of 1 truck, if both cars and trucks gain 6mpg). Personally I think it probably comes out in the wash, so we should strive to improve both
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!
Idling? Dude.. it's an ELECTRIC CAR! The engine doesn't "turn over" when you're not moving. Charge is used when you move, an/if you're running internal electronics (air con etc) if you're in a traffic jam.. just turn it off. It's not like you have to "re-start the engine" when it's time to move.
Please - just because this is useless to you, doesn't mean it's useless.
Americans on average have 2.28 cars per household. The majority have a garage and can easily plug the thing in.
The average driver drives 15,000 per year. Most days have a predictable amount of driving that will be well under the 100 mile range.
At $30,000, this car will be cheap to operate over the life of the vehicle. No oil change, simple transmission, no coolant. Inexpensive energy.
Having friends who already own electric cars - I can tell you that the joy of having your car "full" every morning is wonderful. No more unplanned trips to the gas station. It's hard to state how fantastic this is.
Imagine if you had to take your cellphone to the mobile phone store a couple times per week to "fill" it up. We tolerate that with cars because that's what we're used to.
As a 5 seater hatchback, I can drive the kids to school, commute and get groceries. With 100 mile range, I can drive up to wine country for the weekend. Sure, I'll have another vehicle to tow my boat and drive into the mountains. But this car sounds fantastic and will handle 95% of my trips. If they build it, I will definitely buy one.
But I guess I'll be the only one, since it's "useless"
1) Virtually nobody has a 200V outlet at their parking space. Presumably this will need to be installed when you get the car. Most residences have 208V available, compared with the prices of a car getting this run to an outlet at your car (if you have a house) is cheap.
1a) Maybe this car is not for you. For a lot of people their car never spends any significant time not parked in their driveway.
2) You're missing a BIG point here. The car doesn't idle. 100 miles means 100 miles period (accounting for some losses starting and stopping.) Doesn't matter if it takes you 6 hours get home, as long as it's under 100 miles everything's peachy.
3) Maybe this car is not for you. Some people do have room for two cars in their garage. Others don't need to travel very far.
4) Occasionally I drive 10 miles to the store, then 15 miles to a club, then 20 miles to a hotel, then 5 miles for condoms, then 30 mile for flowers and 10 miles back home. Perhaps there are a lot of people who don't do that. Maybe this car is not for us.
5) How often do you forget to put gas in the tank before it runs dry? How often do you forget to lock your doors when you leave your car? Yes, this is not _as_ convenient as gasoline. I'd hardly call it unacceptable.
Bottom line... Maybe this car is not for you. Don't call it worthless just because it doesn't fill all of your needs.
AC (also electric) is going to without a doubt cut down on the battery's life
Actually, not that much, unless you drive *really* slowly. The LEAF will have a 24 kW-h battery. The motor gets .24 kW-h/mile[1], and assuming you average 30 mph[2], the AC draws .75kW[3], and you use it 100% of the time, we have (x is hours drive time):
24 kW-h = 30 * .24 * x + .75 * x
[algebra happens]
x =~ 3.0
30mph * 3.0 hours = 90 miles, a 10% hit to overall range.
If they use the AC system as a heat pump instead of a resistive array, range on full heat will be about the same.
Just call up someone and have them bring a bit of gas to make it to the next gas station, but how are you going to move that electric car?
And then, the next gas crunch hits. Everyone's gonna be calling me up to borrow my electric vehicle, but how are you going to move that gas-powered car?
I give a decent percentage chance of this actually occurring for some reason in a closer timeframe than my mean-time-to-oops-dry-tank, which is currently measured in decades.
[1] 100 mile range / 24 kW-h battery
[2] With a crappy 1 hour, 30 mile commute, where you spend good chunk of time cruising the freeway followed by some traffic lights when you get to the city
[3] The amount a 8200 BTU/h window-type air conditioner pulls, which is a reasonable comparable for this size car.
It's a little more difficult to hook up an idiot-, water-, abrasion-, and UV-proof 220V public outlet than a (hopefully) stationary indoor dryer or oven. The problems I see are liability and charging (no pun intended) for use. The rules are already in place for the logistics of installing the outlet, although they're pretty expensive to implement (GFCI [and possibly arc fault], watertight conduit, covered-in-use receptacle, etc). The aesthetic and insurance angles remain open issues.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.