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Nissan Unveils All-Electric LEAF

Posted by kdawson on from the made-right-here-in-the-U-S-of-A dept.

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.

7 of 586 comments (clear)

  1. Nothing to see here, move along... by Fishmoney · · Score: 4, Informative

    From TFA: "An iPhone application allows for remote monitoring of battery levels and control of air conditioning in electric cars"

  2. Before anyone panics by Brian+Gordon · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

    1. Re:Before anyone panics by Fluffeh · · Score: 4, Informative

      "You aren't going fucking anywhere, dude"

      Actually, I think that an application that monitors your car's battery/fuel/power source and is linked to a GPS with a trip planner saying "Hey, you won't get there with your current battery/fuel/etc level, you need to get more juice" would be fricken useful.

      I recently did a trip through Wales with mates in a car with a nice GPS, but when you plan a trip that's longer than your car's fuel tank, having it add a "refuel your car here, take this exit off the freeway" sort of show would be REALLY handy.

      --
      Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
  3. Re:History by David+Greene · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

    --

  4. Re:100 miles with or without A/C? by KaiLoi · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

  5. Re:100 miles with or without A/C? by Chad+Lester · · Score: 5, Informative

    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"

  6. Re:Let's remember a few things for this discussion by subreality · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.