walterbays
Well-known member
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_02/b4210048400234.htm
Many interesting points in this long article:
* Story of Chalouhi picking up the first LEAF
* "60 percent of 1,600 U.S. consumers surveyed think their gasoline-powered cars are reliable. Only 30 percent of those surveyed think hybrid-electric cars are reliable (even after a decade of virtually trouble-free performance), and only 10 percent think electric cars will be trouble-free."
* "When Ghosn joined Nissan as chief operating officer in 1999, the company was flirting with bankruptcy; as CEO starting in 2001 he slashed 60 percent of its research and development projects but kept the costly battery program that led to the Leaf."
* "Where the Nissan team focused on the fewer than 100 miles a day traveled by 95 percent of drivers, Lauckner [GM] lingered over another set of numbers: 78 percent drive fewer than 40 miles a day."
* "They sorted potential launch markets according to three main criteria. First, they looked for places that had EV incentives left over from the late 1990s-early 2000s. Then they pored over maps showing the density of hybrid customers. (Of the early Leaf buyers, 80 percent have never owned a Nissan before. Amost half have owned Priuses.) Third, they focused on states where the local utilities were comfortable with the idea and willing to upgrade their grids if needed. "
* 'An electric vehicle charging at 240 volts draws 3,300 watts of power. A hair dryer may draw 1,600. "So we're two hair dryers," says Perry. "If that will cause a neighborhood transformer to blow, you've got bigger problems than EVs.'
* "Now that the company is inviting small groups of those who reserved to contact a dealer and order a Leaf, about half of them are actually ordering a car."
* "Few doubt that in the next year or two Nissan will be able to sell the 50,000 Leafs it can produce globally. As production ramps up to 10 times that, however, Nissan will need to draw customers from beyond the circle of green enthusiasts. If gasoline prices rise and the Leaf proves to be reliable and delivers its promised range at a fraction of the cost of gasoline-powered cars, Nissan might just pull it off."
Many interesting points in this long article:
* Story of Chalouhi picking up the first LEAF
* "60 percent of 1,600 U.S. consumers surveyed think their gasoline-powered cars are reliable. Only 30 percent of those surveyed think hybrid-electric cars are reliable (even after a decade of virtually trouble-free performance), and only 10 percent think electric cars will be trouble-free."
* "When Ghosn joined Nissan as chief operating officer in 1999, the company was flirting with bankruptcy; as CEO starting in 2001 he slashed 60 percent of its research and development projects but kept the costly battery program that led to the Leaf."
* "Where the Nissan team focused on the fewer than 100 miles a day traveled by 95 percent of drivers, Lauckner [GM] lingered over another set of numbers: 78 percent drive fewer than 40 miles a day."
* "They sorted potential launch markets according to three main criteria. First, they looked for places that had EV incentives left over from the late 1990s-early 2000s. Then they pored over maps showing the density of hybrid customers. (Of the early Leaf buyers, 80 percent have never owned a Nissan before. Amost half have owned Priuses.) Third, they focused on states where the local utilities were comfortable with the idea and willing to upgrade their grids if needed. "
* 'An electric vehicle charging at 240 volts draws 3,300 watts of power. A hair dryer may draw 1,600. "So we're two hair dryers," says Perry. "If that will cause a neighborhood transformer to blow, you've got bigger problems than EVs.'
* "Now that the company is inviting small groups of those who reserved to contact a dealer and order a Leaf, about half of them are actually ordering a car."
* "Few doubt that in the next year or two Nissan will be able to sell the 50,000 Leafs it can produce globally. As production ramps up to 10 times that, however, Nissan will need to draw customers from beyond the circle of green enthusiasts. If gasoline prices rise and the Leaf proves to be reliable and delivers its promised range at a fraction of the cost of gasoline-powered cars, Nissan might just pull it off."
