Portugal did have IMF bailout and "austerity". Just like Ireland, they repaid it early and they have access to capital markets now at lower interest rates than their IMF loan. I understand that Krugman's antiausterity propaganda sounds fascinating and may be true in many cases. But you should not make some dogma out of it and understand when and why it applies and when it doesn't. Greece is in eurozone and wants to stay there. If they want to use common currency with other countries, they should be integrating their financial policies too, they can't expect every other country in eurozone bail them out every few years, it doesn't sell well with EU voters. Nobody wants to drop their hard earned money on Greece, Krugman neither gives his own money.
My car starts getting airconditioned in few seconds after engine is on. Sure, it is nice to be able to do it few seconds earlier, while it is still in the garage with garage doors closed. But it is not the most important thing and it doesn't make a luxury car out of Leaf. I did seriously considered Leaf, but it's range is pathetic and it's fast charging network is a joke for most of the country. I'm not kind of a person who don't drive more than 25 miles from home.
Leaf and other economy EVs will get cheaper, but it is not going to take US market as it is - it is too limited, more like econobox for city driving, and most people in the US need to do more than local city driving at least sometimes. Tesla Model 3 and their charging network looks much more promising (hopefully, when/if it will be out and perform as expected in reality, not just fanboy dreams).
Yes, but their warranty extension came too late and who can trust them after all that? You can hear a lot from 2011 Leaf owners that they will not buy anything from Nissan again. Battery cost with installation and tax is $6000+ now and who knows how much Nissan will be charging later. Warranty is just 70% capacity after 5 years/60 000 miles. The range will be pathetic at 70%. You may be paying a lot for gas in UK and your math may be different, but the numbers just don't add up here in the US, it doesn't pay off soon enough.
Actually they will not be running at a surplus and it is the main problem. What looks as surplus (without debt payments) in final reports is more a product of "creative accounting" when you look closer, as it is usual in Greece.
And their debt servicing cost isn't highest in Europe due to low interest after restructuring. Italy or Portugal may have higher cost and they manage it somehow, and do not complain about some "evil IMF".
And now, after bank holiday and young & productive people heading out, their issues will be far worse.
I guess you are married to your Leaf and it makes you don't understand why only 30,000 new car buyers out few millions in the US got Leaf, even with hefty subsidies. For everybody else the reasons are obvious.
And yes, 35C weather is normal here in Florida for the whole summer, and it has mostly oceanic climate unlike e.g. Arizona. In my garage I will have maybe 45C in afternoon. Leaf is complete junk in such conditions. Nobody wants junk for new car price plus premium. It may make sense for few people to lease it if somebody subsidies lease, and that is all.
Greece already defaulted, years ago when part of the debt was written off, and this month it defaulted again on IMF debt. Giving it more money so that it would be able to pay interest on old debts doesn't make any sense. It will not return debt one way or another. Euro exchange rate didn't change much over last month - it didn't plummeted. The reasoning may be that people consider Greece a liability for Euro, not advantage. Less liability is better. Yes, there are several other countries with problems, but as you noted they are in much better situation now. I don't think that closed banks in Greece will look attractive to people in these countries. And inflation after euro exit will follow, effectively erasing all generous social benefits - unfortunately, they will need to be erased one way or another for any meaningful recovery.
This argument about average trip length is well known and there is no need to repeat it. It doesn't fly - you still need to make your 1% of trips some way, or extend your trip in unplanned direction sometimes. It is big hassle to plan carefully your every trip, and it is big hassle or not possible to get rental car on random Sunday for example, when most rental shops are closed. Why would you buy new car and live with all these restrictions? Some people may save big on commuting costs, but currently it takes very long time or may never come if you total your car. Gas price here is $2.60/gallon and nobody expects another commodity market bubble any time soon. These are obvious reasons why people don't buy restricted range cars like Leaf.
The batteries are expected to last 10 years/100,000-150,000 miles or more without significant degradation - how you define "significant"? Tesla for example do not provide any warranty for degradation, and I think they know what they are doing. Quote: The Battery, like all lithium-ion batteries, will experience gradual energy or power loss with time and use. Loss of Battery energy or power over time or due to or resulting from Battery usage, is NOT covered under this Battery Limited Warranty. Nissan has started provide capacity warranty just now: p, the lithium-ion battery is also warranted against capacity loss below nine bars of capacity as shown on the vehicle’s battery capacity level gauge for a period of 60 months or 60,000 miles. What is "9 bars" here? Now it is 70%, but if Nissan updates their software at any time and it becomes 50% as they got too many warranty claims, it may be OK for them. Not so for buyer, and you want some resale value after 5 years/60,000 miles, but at 70% battery capacity your Leaf may be worth very little.
Nissan had well known issues with overheating Leaf batteries loosing capacity in Arizona. Supposedly they use better batteries in newer cars, but there is still no liquid cooling. You can read about battery calendar life here: http://www.electricvehiclewiki.com/Battery_Capacity_Loss. Obviously it is significant, for example at 90 F it goes to 70% capacity in about 5 years. That is for ideal 60% charge level. And in the US South, garages are NOT air-conditioned, and temperature in summer reaches much more than 100 F outside. Next, any battery has degradation because of charge-recharge cycles. When battery is small, you are forced to use 0% to 100% recharge cycle too frequently. You can expect around 1200 cycles from it before it looses 20% or so, or around 120 000 miles if cycle is 100 miles, then you need to replace it as it may not have enough range for your needs anymore. That is just because of charge cycles. This matches Leaf owner experience, e.g.: http://ecomento.com/2015/03/03/nissan-leaf-ev-review-4-years-70000-miles/. UK car (no high temperatures) with 70,000 miles and 4 years has 80% capacity left.
Sure, not everybody lives in South and not everybody drives in 0%-100% charge pattern, but again, it is too much planning and risk for average car buyer. And Nissan attitude to their initial battery problems was not encouraging at all. What if you change job or house next month and will need to commute a bit over your Leaf's range? Buy a new car again when your extra EV price premium was expected to pay off in 10 years only maybe?
Yes, when battery prices will go down and when lower prices will reach end user, it will be different story. Not today yet.
"Tools and resources" that they are "forced" to sell sound like some fantasy story from leftist propaganda arsenal that has nothing to do with reality. There are 28 countries in EU, poorer and richer, and none of them has such big drama as Greece. EU politicians may not want for Greece to leave, but they don't have popular support in their home countries to continue to pour their taxpayer money into Greece. There are limits what they can pay for what they want. If you speak with people north of Greece, the most popular opinion is "get them out, we are tired of this and we don't want to pay anything more". Sure, the exit would cost too much, but it is democracy works. Greece voted No and they can't offer any meaningful deal now, just spend more money from other countries. There were no referendums in other countries, but voters there also have opinion that is no secret, they also can say No no matter what and just reject "who is at fault now" game.
Never had "knocked out plugs" in my life, so it is hard to imagine what it is. Certainly I don't have a habit going around knocking the plugs, nor my kids do, it may be different for you, but it still sounds like silly fantasy problem, something like "and what if sky falls down and velociraptors eat all electricity around".
You can call balanced budget not austerity but something else, but it is the only possible answer if they want to stay in Euro. All these keynesians suggest they should exit Euro, but it is exactly what they don't want. It is not fair to compare their situation to country with it's own currency. It would be more appropriate to compare them to Detroit, that is part of the US and will stay in the US. How much money you would drop from helicopters in Detroit to fix their economical problems? I don't think you can fix their problems such way.
Border controls would be established if Greece would exit EU. My guess it would be easier to control border on the ground, rather than vessels coming to very long Greece shore.
In the US typical distances are much longer than in UK. I don't think infrastructure for such short range cars like Leaf is even practical outside few metro areas. Who would want to stop for half an hour after every hour of highway driving. Loss of battery capacity over charge cycles and years is well known fact. It is well researched for specific battery chemistry and it would be BS to claim it doesn't exist. It may be less in temperate climates like UK or it can by catastrophic in Arizona sun due to lack of liquid cooling as some earlier Leaf owners have learned. And no, A/C is not optional in the South. You can't turn off A/C in typical Florida summer afternoon when it is 35 C outside, 100% humidity and heavy showers, and some speed lover has crashed on highway ahead of you, creating 2 hour jam. If you turn off A/C, windows get covered with condensation in a minute.
You can't really recover when you were spending foreign borrowed money for years without consideration. No way you can return to the same spending level, it is simple math. The US is completely different from Greece, and all these political columnists from N.Y. Times are having in mind US first, even if they talking about some other countries. Greece is just 2% or so of EU GDP, it is more like individual person in the EU, rather than country relying on internal consumption.
IMF and ECB are not investors. They handle taxpayer money. Even with private banks, investors are often just pension funds who distribute their gains and losses for retirement. I don't know how "ruined" Greece is now, but it certainly not the purest country in the EU, even if they are acting like sky is falling. Countries in Central and Eastern Europe have much less money to spend.
I want referendum in my household too - no more mortgage payments, no auto loan payments, no credit card payments. It is too hard to pay for everything, austerity is terrible. Just keep the house and all the goods!
120V or 240V outlet isn't something that is cost prohibitive. Outlet is outlet, it is just the same as in detached house or townhouse, with some extra wiring. It may something to do with specific situation in your building or rather with managers not willing to bother, but it doesn't mean the same for every condo owner.
It doesn't sounds right, drive 5-7 hours non-stop. Are you trucker or what? This is about cars, not long-distance trucks. Stopping for 20-30 minutes every 2-3 hours like with Tesla in long trip is some inconvenience, but very minor one. I would not care about it that much, as long as fast charging station is available at all.
If your kids knock plug out, you still have car next day, it is not necessary at 0% charge, why it should be? And what if your kids punch a hole in your gas tank and start playing with matches? You must remove all ICEs from you house immediately!
You get $7500 credit only if you are due $7500 income tax. Many households on close to minimum wage would not get it, or it would take many years. They are much better with second hand car, it is not necessary to buy new.
I guess you are somewhere in CA Bay area if you are talking about some fast chargers on your route. As much as I want to get EV, there no serious charging network for cars like Leaf in the whole country. And Nissan don't even pretend it is suitable for road trips, it is marketed as "charge at home" car. Most of these fast chargers are in Nissan dealerships in the middle of nowhere, the may have like only one or to spots to charge and closed on non-business hours. It is a joke for a road trip, especially if you consider that 100 miles is theoretical range, in practice it may be 60 miles in new car with A/C or heater on at highway speed, or less after few years, and worst is that it is unpredictable, bad weather may leave you stranded. And it barely pays off even for commuting only, with around $15k extra price premium. And don't tell me about renting for road trips, I tried to do that in practice and it doesn't work very well - rental cars are not available at certain peak days when you need them most, and most rental stations don't work on Sundays or at night.
Tesla Model S may be better EV, they have half decent fast charging network, but it is $70-100k car with $1000/mo lease payment and interior not really matching competing $100k cars if you are in the market for $100k cars.
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Portugal did have IMF bailout and "austerity". Just like Ireland, they repaid it early and they have access to capital markets now at lower interest rates than their IMF loan.
I understand that Krugman's antiausterity propaganda sounds fascinating and may be true in many cases. But you should not make some dogma out of it and understand when and why it applies and when it doesn't. Greece is in eurozone and wants to stay there. If they want to use common currency with other countries, they should be integrating their financial policies too, they can't expect every other country in eurozone bail them out every few years, it doesn't sell well with EU voters. Nobody wants to drop their hard earned money on Greece, Krugman neither gives his own money.
My car starts getting airconditioned in few seconds after engine is on. Sure, it is nice to be able to do it few seconds earlier, while it is still in the garage with garage doors closed. But it is not the most important thing and it doesn't make a luxury car out of Leaf.
I did seriously considered Leaf, but it's range is pathetic and it's fast charging network is a joke for most of the country. I'm not kind of a person who don't drive more than 25 miles from home.
Leaf and other economy EVs will get cheaper, but it is not going to take US market as it is - it is too limited, more like econobox for city driving, and most people in the US need to do more than local city driving at least sometimes. Tesla Model 3 and their charging network looks much more promising (hopefully, when/if it will be out and perform as expected in reality, not just fanboy dreams).
Yes, but their warranty extension came too late and who can trust them after all that? You can hear a lot from 2011 Leaf owners that they will not buy anything from Nissan again. Battery cost with installation and tax is $6000+ now and who knows how much Nissan will be charging later. Warranty is just 70% capacity after 5 years/60 000 miles. The range will be pathetic at 70%. You may be paying a lot for gas in UK and your math may be different, but the numbers just don't add up here in the US, it doesn't pay off soon enough.
Actually they will not be running at a surplus and it is the main problem. What looks as surplus (without debt payments) in final reports is more a product of "creative accounting" when you look closer, as it is usual in Greece.
And their debt servicing cost isn't highest in Europe due to low interest after restructuring. Italy or Portugal may have higher cost and they manage it somehow, and do not complain about some "evil IMF".
And now, after bank holiday and young & productive people heading out, their issues will be far worse.
I guess you are married to your Leaf and it makes you don't understand why only 30,000 new car buyers out few millions in the US got Leaf, even with hefty subsidies. For everybody else the reasons are obvious.
And yes, 35C weather is normal here in Florida for the whole summer, and it has mostly oceanic climate unlike e.g. Arizona. In my garage I will have maybe 45C in afternoon. Leaf is complete junk in such conditions. Nobody wants junk for new car price plus premium. It may make sense for few people to lease it if somebody subsidies lease, and that is all.
Greece already defaulted, years ago when part of the debt was written off, and this month it defaulted again on IMF debt. Giving it more money so that it would be able to pay interest on old debts doesn't make any sense. It will not return debt one way or another.
Euro exchange rate didn't change much over last month - it didn't plummeted. The reasoning may be that people consider Greece a liability for Euro, not advantage. Less liability is better.
Yes, there are several other countries with problems, but as you noted they are in much better situation now. I don't think that closed banks in Greece will look attractive to people in these countries. And inflation after euro exit will follow, effectively erasing all generous social benefits - unfortunately, they will need to be erased one way or another for any meaningful recovery.
This argument about average trip length is well known and there is no need to repeat it. It doesn't fly - you still need to make your 1% of trips some way, or extend your trip in unplanned direction sometimes. It is big hassle to plan carefully your every trip, and it is big hassle or not possible to get rental car on random Sunday for example, when most rental shops are closed. Why would you buy new car and live with all these restrictions? Some people may save big on commuting costs, but currently it takes very long time or may never come if you total your car. Gas price here is $2.60/gallon and nobody expects another commodity market bubble any time soon. These are obvious reasons why people don't buy restricted range cars like Leaf.
The batteries are expected to last 10 years/100,000-150,000 miles or more without significant degradation - how you define "significant"? Tesla for example do not provide any warranty for degradation, and I think they know what they are doing. Quote: The Battery, like all lithium-ion batteries, will experience gradual energy or power loss with time and use. Loss of Battery energy or power over time or due to or resulting from Battery usage, is NOT covered under this Battery Limited Warranty.
Nissan has started provide capacity warranty just now:
p, the lithium-ion battery is also warranted against capacity loss below nine bars of capacity as shown on the vehicle’s battery capacity level gauge for a period of 60 months or 60,000 miles. What is "9 bars" here? Now it is 70%, but if Nissan updates their software at any time and it becomes 50% as they got too many warranty claims, it may be OK for them. Not so for buyer, and you want some resale value after 5 years/60,000 miles, but at 70% battery capacity your Leaf may be worth very little.
Nissan had well known issues with overheating Leaf batteries loosing capacity in Arizona. Supposedly they use better batteries in newer cars, but there is still no liquid cooling. You can read about battery calendar life here: http://www.electricvehiclewiki.com/Battery_Capacity_Loss. Obviously it is significant, for example at 90 F it goes to 70% capacity in about 5 years. That is for ideal 60% charge level. And in the US South, garages are NOT air-conditioned, and temperature in summer reaches much more than 100 F outside. Next, any battery has degradation because of charge-recharge cycles. When battery is small, you are forced to use 0% to 100% recharge cycle too frequently. You can expect around 1200 cycles from it before it looses 20% or so, or around 120 000 miles if cycle is 100 miles, then you need to replace it as it may not have enough range for your needs anymore. That is just because of charge cycles. This matches Leaf owner experience, e.g.:
http://ecomento.com/2015/03/03/nissan-leaf-ev-review-4-years-70000-miles/. UK car (no high temperatures) with 70,000 miles and 4 years has 80% capacity left.
Sure, not everybody lives in South and not everybody drives in 0%-100% charge pattern, but again, it is too much planning and risk for average car buyer. And Nissan attitude to their initial battery problems was not encouraging at all. What if you change job or house next month and will need to commute a bit over your Leaf's range? Buy a new car again when your extra EV price premium was expected to pay off in 10 years only maybe?
Yes, when battery prices will go down and when lower prices will reach end user, it will be different story. Not today yet.
"Tools and resources" that they are "forced" to sell sound like some fantasy story from leftist propaganda arsenal that has nothing to do with reality. There are 28 countries in EU, poorer and richer, and none of them has such big drama as Greece.
EU politicians may not want for Greece to leave, but they don't have popular support in their home countries to continue to pour their taxpayer money into Greece. There are limits what they can pay for what they want. If you speak with people north of Greece, the most popular opinion is "get them out, we are tired of this and we don't want to pay anything more". Sure, the exit would cost too much, but it is democracy works. Greece voted No and they can't offer any meaningful deal now, just spend more money from other countries. There were no referendums in other countries, but voters there also have opinion that is no secret, they also can say No no matter what and just reject "who is at fault now" game.
Never had "knocked out plugs" in my life, so it is hard to imagine what it is. Certainly I don't have a habit going around knocking the plugs, nor my kids do, it may be different for you, but it still sounds like silly fantasy problem, something like "and what if sky falls down and velociraptors eat all electricity around".
You can call balanced budget not austerity but something else, but it is the only possible answer if they want to stay in Euro. All these keynesians suggest they should exit Euro, but it is exactly what they don't want. It is not fair to compare their situation to country with it's own currency. It would be more appropriate to compare them to Detroit, that is part of the US and will stay in the US. How much money you would drop from helicopters in Detroit to fix their economical problems? I don't think you can fix their problems such way.
Border controls would be established if Greece would exit EU. My guess it would be easier to control border on the ground, rather than vessels coming to very long Greece shore.
In the US typical distances are much longer than in UK. I don't think infrastructure for such short range cars like Leaf is even practical outside few metro areas. Who would want to stop for half an hour after every hour of highway driving.
Loss of battery capacity over charge cycles and years is well known fact. It is well researched for specific battery chemistry and it would be BS to claim it doesn't exist. It may be less in temperate climates like UK or it can by catastrophic in Arizona sun due to lack of liquid cooling as some earlier Leaf owners have learned.
And no, A/C is not optional in the South. You can't turn off A/C in typical Florida summer afternoon when it is 35 C outside, 100% humidity and heavy showers, and some speed lover has crashed on highway ahead of you, creating 2 hour jam. If you turn off A/C, windows get covered with condensation in a minute.
They are not paying these billions, it is simple. Drachma would help keep economy running.
You can't really recover when you were spending foreign borrowed money for years without consideration. No way you can return to the same spending level, it is simple math. The US is completely different from Greece, and all these political columnists from N.Y. Times are having in mind US first, even if they talking about some other countries. Greece is just 2% or so of EU GDP, it is more like individual person in the EU, rather than country relying on internal consumption.
IMF and ECB are not investors. They handle taxpayer money. Even with private banks, investors are often just pension funds who distribute their gains and losses for retirement.
I don't know how "ruined" Greece is now, but it certainly not the purest country in the EU, even if they are acting like sky is falling. Countries in Central and Eastern Europe have much less money to spend.
I want referendum in my household too - no more mortgage payments, no auto loan payments, no credit card payments. It is too hard to pay for everything, austerity is terrible. Just keep the house and all the goods!
120V or 240V outlet isn't something that is cost prohibitive. Outlet is outlet, it is just the same as in detached house or townhouse, with some extra wiring. It may something to do with specific situation in your building or rather with managers not willing to bother, but it doesn't mean the same for every condo owner.
It doesn't sounds right, drive 5-7 hours non-stop. Are you trucker or what? This is about cars, not long-distance trucks.
Stopping for 20-30 minutes every 2-3 hours like with Tesla in long trip is some inconvenience, but very minor one. I would not care about it that much, as long as fast charging station is available at all.
If your kids knock plug out, you still have car next day, it is not necessary at 0% charge, why it should be?
And what if your kids punch a hole in your gas tank and start playing with matches? You must remove all ICEs from you house immediately!
Leafs are selling well too in Norway. Just because EV subsidies are huge there, but they are going to be reduced soon.
Typically you don't need HELOC for a car, auto loan from credit union would have much lower APR.
You get $7500 credit only if you are due $7500 income tax. Many households on close to minimum wage would not get it, or it would take many years. They are much better with second hand car, it is not necessary to buy new.
I guess you are somewhere in CA Bay area if you are talking about some fast chargers on your route. As much as I want to get EV, there no serious charging network for cars like Leaf in the whole country. And Nissan don't even pretend it is suitable for road trips, it is marketed as "charge at home" car. Most of these fast chargers are in Nissan dealerships in the middle of nowhere, the may have like only one or to spots to charge and closed on non-business hours. It is a joke for a road trip, especially if you consider that 100 miles is theoretical range, in practice it may be 60 miles in new car with A/C or heater on at highway speed, or less after few years, and worst is that it is unpredictable, bad weather may leave you stranded. And it barely pays off even for commuting only, with around $15k extra price premium. And don't tell me about renting for road trips, I tried to do that in practice and it doesn't work very well - rental cars are not available at certain peak days when you need them most, and most rental stations don't work on Sundays or at night.
Tesla Model S may be better EV, they have half decent fast charging network, but it is $70-100k car with $1000/mo lease payment and interior not really matching competing $100k cars if you are in the market for $100k cars.
It should be obvious that for every used car, somebody should buy it as new first.
Mercedes B, Nissan NV200 look like minivans