Nissan Expects 20,000 Leaf EV Pre-orders

Posted September 30 2009 06:00 AM by Andrew Peterson
Category: Green

Nissan Expects 20,000 Leaf EV Pre-orders

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The Nissan Leaf vs. Chevrolet Volt battle continues. After GM revealed 50,000 people were interested in purchasing the Volt, Nissan announced it anticipates it will have approximately 20,000 pre-orders for its all-electric Leaf.

“We are confident we will have 20,000 reservations for the Leaf by the time it goes on sale,” said Carlos Tavares, Nissan’s chairman for the Americas. The Leaf EV should hit dealerships this time next year, but Nissan will begin taking pre-orders for the vehicle this spring.

While no real charging infrastructure currently exists, Nissan hopes to change that in at least one major city by the time the Leaf EV goes on sale next year. Nissan plans to make the area around its Franklin, Tennessee, North American sales and marketing headquarters one of the key areas for the Leaf by partnering with the state of Tennessee and the Tennessee Valley Authority to link the cities of Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville with a charging grid.

“Tennessee will be a critical place with the largest electrical recharging infrastructure anywhere,” said Tavares.

To help the Leaf prosper in other parts of the country, Nissan created similar partnerships with utility companies in several other key markets including Phoenix, San Diego, and Seattle. In addition to focusing on major markets to create charging grids, Tavares, speaking at a conference in Tennessee, invited companies to consider purchasing commercial fleets of Leafs for their businesses and building their own charging grids. This is similar to how many companies have their own fueling stations for various fuels.

Nissan hopes to accrue 20,000 Leaf EV pre-orders, but has higher aspirations of producing 150,000 units annually. The Leaf will originally be imported from Japan, but production will be moved to Nissan’s Smyrna, Tennessee, manufacturing complex, where Nissan is investing $2 billion to allow the factory to produce 150,000 Leafs annually along with 200,000 lithium ion batteries, by 2012.

Source: Automotive News
http://www.autonews.com/article/20090929/ANA05/909299990/1186

50,000 volts: http://rumors.automobilemag.com/6589230/green/chevrolet-volt-pre-orders-50000-strong/index.html

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Theme : Nissan Leaf will lift the world, No Need For Heartbreaking Wars !

Some say the Leaf and the i-MiEV have a cruising range of 160 km on one battery charge, that is about one-third of the distance a gas-powered car can cover on a full tank of fuel.

In 21st century, home, workplace, or stores etc also serve as a power station as electricity is everywhere. and the other developments that come in a range of 200 to 300 miles between charges are on fast-tract toward mass-market, as well.

In this economy, fuel price is hovering around $60 to $75 a barrel, which highlights the actual value might be much the same as the peak price last year, and it will continue to spiral up unquestionably.

All it takes for the entire world to live in peace would be to change our antique notion as technology is already here, energy independence lies with people's will and attitude. Today, the size and scope of investing in future energy will determine the future and fate of a nation.

1. The range of terrific EVs are sufficient to meet the daily driving needs of more than 95% of drivers ((The vast majority of people (95%) drive less than 100/km a day, 82% of the respondents said they drive 40 miles or less a day, with an average daily driving distance of 27 miles.)).

2. What's more, as for long trip needs, all but Americans and many of developed nations have existing automobiles, in this regard, EVs are best suited to their daily use until the infrastructure comes into wide use. And people are already doing that. It's time to end carrying a heavy suitcase for a long trip on a daily basis as it is unsustainable.

3. The price has not yet been announced, but Nissan says it will be priced similarly to a well-equipped sedan in the vicinity of the high $20,000 and with government tax break.

4. Manufacturing volume, innovative battery technology will drive down cost.

5. Very little maintenance fee.
Easy to drive and low likelihood of accidents, their only controls are the accelerator and brake.

6. MILES PER GALLON : MORE THAN 10 VS 1 (Leaf : 367MPG) compared with general combustion engine cars.
Applied to a different methodology from DOE formula, the notable EVs suffice to reach 200 to 300 MPG .

As an innovative Chevy Volt shows, even excellent hybrid cars and modern diesels are not comparable to EVs in light of fuel economy as the current fuel price went beyond the level of these autos and they failed to overcome this great recession, I guess.

How Can An Electric Car Travel 100 Miles For $1?

Please search http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/100-miles-per-dollar.php for informative details.

7. EVs will likely be less expensive for people to drive with low-cost nighttime charging.
Sometimes EVs can be charged at workplaces or stores etc.

8. Batteries will become more efficient on the whole and their price will drop, whereas the oil will simply go up and up as it becomes more scarce. As simple as that.

9. EVs are simple and felt smoother and more torquey than the petrol models, and quiet, fun to drive.

10. Better Place is partnering with Nissan to create the charging infrastructure and a system for swapping depleted batteries for fully charged batteries in less than 2 minutes. This can extend the range of the vehicle to hundreds of miles.

11. Nissan has developed an IT system for its EVs, connecting the vehicle's on-board transmitting unit to a global data centre to support EV driving 24 hours 7 days a week.

The system shows the driving radius on a maximum range display under the current state of charge and calculates if the vehicle is within range of a pre-set destination. The navigation system points out the latest information on available charging stations within the current driving range

12. The car will charge to 80 percent within 30 minutes on a quick charger. A full charge requires eight hours on a 200V outlet.

13. It features a timer function that will start the car's air-conditioner or battery charging at a specified time to benefit from more favorable electricity rates by a mobile phone or the Internet, as well. An SMS can be sent when the battery is fully charged and the car ready.

14. The 24 kilowatt hours laminated compact lithium-ion battery pack is placed under the vehicle floor for more efficient packaging. The battery layout also allows smooth underfloor air-flow which helps reduce drag.

15. The regenerative brake system employed to recharge the battery during deceleration and braking extends the driving range to more than 160 kilometres (depending on driving style and conditions) under a full charge.

16. Durability is achieved by employing an additional frame for the battery pack to significantly improve the rigidity of the platform.

17. The electric motor will develop 80 kilowatts, which is the equivalent of about 107 horsepower.
It has a maximum speed of 90 miles per hour.

18. It takes a practical approach towards the family market with its tagline: “5 passengers, 5 doors" .

19. The design is streamlined and stylish.

20. In place of selling battery, leasing it represents not merely holding the price down but taking charge of its quality issue, from my position. And it is benefiting its recycling, as well.

21. even when electricity is produced by coal, an electric vehicle will indirectly release less carbon than a liquid fueled vehicle. One source suggests 60% less: http://green.autoblog.com/2009/07/24/study-even-with-electricity-from-coal-electric-vehilces-beat-g/

22. The vehicle-to-grid communication technology is helping the battery serve as a storage to prevent the costly blackout standing at about $90 to 100bn per year. That means utilities are shedding cost for additional storage facilities and ratepayers are selling electricity for peak hours so that EVs can make more economic sense, as we know.

It is also in the best interest of electricity utilities that EVs are going mainstream, thereby they need to put in charge stands where needed around highways, major roads with card readers or cell phone tech.

Once the U.S. switches the 'unsustainable' war and military wasting like health care wasting into investing in a smart grid, charging station infrastructure, the entire world will live in peace as U.S. spend more on military than the next 25 countries combined.

An extended mistake, oil wars, might barely sustain national automakers, not international, for some time at best, especially considering the invaluable lives and unsustainable military costs.

I'm convinced just like digital cameras, EVs are going mainstream sooner rather than later. Most recently, an analyst from Credit Suisse said: " we believe the electrification of the car appears increasingly inevitable, with plug-in hybrids providing the bridge technology to full electric vehicles."

Posted October 1 2009 08:10 AM

HSR0601

Nissan Expects 20,000 Leaf EV Pre-orders

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