Official Infiniti LE thread - early 2017, 60 kWh

[surfingslovak]

I absolutely will not buy another 24kWh car. Or one without quick charging / battery swapping or other scheme that doesn't have me sitting at a slow 3.3 / 6.6 charger.

Just purely hypothetically, would a 36 kWh battery and CHAdeMO make any difference in this scenario? Assuming that this will result in a fairly high sticker price, would the Infinity be competitive with the base Model S?

 

[Boomer23]

I absolutely will not buy another 24kWh car. Or one without quick charging / battery swapping or other scheme that doesn't have me sitting at a slow 3.3 / 6.6 charger.

Just purely hypothetically, would a 36 kWh battery and CHAdeMO make any difference in this scenario? Assuming that this will result in a fairly high sticker price, would the Infinity be competitive with the base Model S?

For me, that would be a great combination and would definitely have me comparing the Infiniti with the Tesla. I expect the Tesla to be quicker and with rear drive, to handle better, and it has larger interior dimensions and a hatchback, which I like. But the Infiniti comes from an experienced and well trusted car maker with the financial wherewithal to back up the proposition of long term ownership. I also still have a lot of concerns about the user interface for the Tesla being almost all touch screen, which I consider dangerously distracting to use.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

i dont think we will see larger battery packs until 2015 or 2016 barring any unexpected battery advances. the weight simply needs to come down.

we still have a weight/performance ratio that is illustrated with the Coda. here is a car with the bigger battery pack that gives only a small increase in performance.

now is it due to lesser engineering? heavier battery weight? or is it just a performance/weight ratio per certain body styling that has been exceeded.

sure a Tesla can carry more battery, but a Tesla is essentially a drivers cockpit and batteries and little else. it would not matter if it had a range of 1000 miles and cost $20,000. it would not work for me.

now, we already have complaints on pricing and i do agree that an upscale car has to be at least 150 miles in LA4 which would give it just over 100 "real" miles

guessing a slightly less than 73% ratio that the Leaf has due to additional weight.

but if the Infinity did use the same battery pack as the Leaf, that would be a significant cost reduction due to volumes produced. i think it will be a tough sale and very much a niche product. i dont see more than 5,000 a year being sold but at the same time, i think it is VITAL that Nissan expands the EV line.

we also need a crossover EV if anyone is listening

 

[evnow]

I absolutely will not buy another 24kWh car. Or one without quick charging / battery swapping or other scheme that doesn't have me sitting at a slow 3.3 / 6.6 charger.

Here is the problem ...

Model S 40 kWh : No quick charging
BMW i3 : 90ish EPA miles but no CHAdeMO (may have SAE)
Infiniti LE : CHAdeMO, but announced with just 24 kWh

Lower priced ones ...

FFE : 76 EPA miles & no CHAdeMO
Coda : 88 EPA miles but no CHAdeMO
Mitsu i : CHAdeMO but only 62 miles

Hope
- Model S gets CHAdeMO adaptor
- Infiniti LE gets a bigger battery
or
- (the horror !) get BMW i3 with range exender

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

the extra batteries will really jump the price up but does anyone expect to get the 160 mile Tesla at $57,000? i checked the options list and that does not seem likely. mid 60's seems to be the likely out the door price.

also, not sure i need the room the Tesla provides or the weight that comes along with that room. now, something slightly larger than the Leaf might be nice or maybe just reconfigure the back end for flatter storage

i would like to have seen a Ford Fusion EV but considering the hybrid is already near the mid 30's that might be an expensive option but i like the size for a family car.

 

[evnow]

the extra batteries will really jump the price up but does anyone expect to get the 160 mile Tesla at $57,000? i checked the options list and that does not seem likely. mid 60's seems to be the likely out the door price.

Model S 40 kWh will be over $60k OOTD for most buyers.
+57,000
+ 1,500 (heated seats&leather)
+ 3,750 (tech package)
+ 1,000 (destination, assumed)
=63,250

Infiniti LE seems to be the right size (3" short of Altima).

 

[jkirkebo]

Now, something slightly larger than the Leaf might be nice or maybe just reconfigure the back end for flatter storage

If they got rid of the hump behind the seats and managed to get 42kWh from the same physical size battery by moving to next gen. NMC chemistry the Leaf would be a damn fine car. BTW, add a telescoping steering wheel too and a hitch option. The rest of the car I'm extremely pleased with.

I'd gladly pay $8k more than the current one for a 2014-2015 Leaf with those specs.

 

[nader]

Motor swap anyone?

 

[evnow]

Motor swap anyone?

I doubt any kind of simple swap will work - you would need to hack into their firmware and modify a lot of settings (and may be remap some stuff).

 

[surfingslovak]

Leonel Delgadillo, one of the BMW electronauts, went to the NY Auto Show and took a few pictures. He is considering getting the Infinity after the lease on the ActiveE runs out. Happy Easter everyone!

 

[nosuchthing]

It seems Nissan wants to keep the LE battery at 24 kW so it does not compete with the Leaf. Nissan should advance the battery size of both vehicles up at the same time to at least 35-45 kW.

WE NEED BIGGER BATTERIES!

I would never buy another EV until I get improved range. 70 freeway miles is baby stuff. We have outgrew it -- fast. I want my EV to be in use by all family members. It needs to charge and recharge fast, and be able to deliver some miles in between. Our Leaf makes a trip and it's over. Parked for too many hours of daytime charging. Come summer, we have to stop that as the summer rates kick in at 50 cents per kW. Right now it's upper 20's. Even though 50 cent juice is still a cheaper option than gas. But it sure beefs up that PG&E bill by about 100 bucks.

 

[evnow]

It seems Nissan wants to keep the LE battery at 24 kW so it does not compete with the Leaf.

Hmm ? Wouldn't Nissan want people to buy LE instead of Leaf (more margin).

More importantly they need to compete with Model S & i3 - so they need more range. I'm fairly sure we will see larger range LE when it hits the streets in 2014.

 

[Herm]

Options!.. options are what we need so that everyone can get what they want.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

a friend posted a link to Cars.com's list of photos which shows two decent shots of the dash. pure speculation here but the last photo shows the GOM at 75 miles with 63% SOC... might suggest a substantially larger battery than the Leaf, no?

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/...oncept-photo-gallery.html?cmp=cartalkfacebook

 

[cdub]

a friend posted a link to Cars.com's list of photos which shows two decent shots of the dash. pure speculation here but the last photo shows the GOM at 75 miles with 63% SOC... might suggest a substantially larger battery than the Leaf, no?

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/...oncept-photo-gallery.html?cmp=cartalkfacebook

Or they've been doing highly efficient around town driving.

 

[cdub]

50 cents per kW. .

Woah that's high.

 

[Boomer23]

a friend posted a link to Cars.com's list of photos which shows two decent shots of the dash. pure speculation here but the last photo shows the GOM at 75 miles with 63% SOC... might suggest a substantially larger battery than the Leaf, no?

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/...oncept-photo-gallery.html?cmp=cartalkfacebook

Notice the shifter markings in the close up of the center console. The marking for D is D/B rather than D/ECO as in the LEAF. Does that indicate a more aggressive regen braking mode for a more performance oriented EV?

 

[TomT]

If Infiniti ever hopes to sell me a more upscale vehicle, it will need to be at least 36Kwh and at least a 10Kw charger.,..... That additional 50 percent and faster charging would open up a number of range opportunities for me

It seems Nissan wants to keep the LE battery at 24 kW so it does not compete with the Leaf. Nissan should advance the battery size of both vehicles up at the same time to at least 35-45 kW.

 

[TurboFroggy]

Put an 18KW onboard charger (75Amp J1772) and I am IN.
It could charge at 3.3KW normally then if you press the "fast charge" button, it just maximizes the current allowed by whatever EVSE your plugged into up to 75 Amps, that would be totally cool.

Bigger battery pack, no thanks. I would rather have an 18KW onboard charger and Chademo, that would cost far less than a larger battery pack.

 

[DeaneG]

When the Nissan survey team stopped by last year, they asked me what I wanted in an Infinity-branded EV. I told them more range. They kept asking: what about feature X, or feature Y ? I reiterated "more range" about three times. More range must be hard for them to do.