Great Article about the Leaf

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leafluv

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Oct 22, 2009
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I found a great article that talks about all different area of the Nissan Lea, and I thought I'd post it here:

Nissan Leaf Intro
It would be easy to paint Nissan as late to the burgeoning U.S. green party, as the company essentially only counts the Altima Hybrid to sell among its alt-fuel offerings – and that sedan utilizes technology borrowed from Toyota, and it's only sold in a few states in small volumes. While that may be the case, Nissan says their near-term prospects are really quite different. While the company has admittedly been cautious in marketing alt-fuel vehicles in North America, they have been hard at work developing electric vehicles – as well as the advanced lithium-ion batteries to support them – since 1992. What's more, officials say they are now singularly well-placed to leapfrog "transitional" powertrain solutions like gas-electric hybrids in favor of genuine zero-emissions vehicles, and they are promising that their first pure-electric car will reach U.S. shores late next year.
 
Nissan Leaf Charging
How will Leaf drivers find these public charging stations? Every example will be equipped with an integrated computer system that is connected to a GPS system and global data center, allowing the Leaf to display its "reachable area" on its sat-nav screen, as well as the location of nearby charging stations. That same advanced IT system can also communicate with the owner's smart phone, sending them emails to let them know their vehicle's state of charge, allow users to pre-cool or pre-warm the Leaf while it's charging (thus drawing power from the grid and not depleting the onboard batteries), and the system can even be programmed to charge in the middle-of-the-night to take advantage of lower energy costs. When we asked, Nissan officials said they did not know if the car's communications system will require a monthly service fee along with it, or if that will simply be rolled into the cost of the vehicle.
 
Nissan Leaf Batteries
While it hasn't committed to anything yet, Nissan officials say they are shooting for similar warranty coverage to that of their more conventional offerings. Those vehicles come standard with three years/36,000 mile coverage, and powertrain coverage of five years/60,000 miles, and it will be interesting to see if Nissan can match those figures for the vehicle, it's electronic motor, and the expensive battery pack (estimated replacement cost: $10,000).
 
Nissan Leaf Styling

Interestingly, unlike the current alt-fuel darlings from Toyota and Honda, Nissan has purposefully eschewed a fastback shape for a more formal five-door appearance. Shiro Nakamura, Nissan's senior vice president and chief creative officer (read: styling director) admits he wanted the car to be unique, but not so bizarre as to be off-putting to most car buyers:

"From the beginning, we did not want to make the car very strange, because one of the perceptions of the EV [is that] people think that EVs are toys, or cheap... that you cannot drive high-speed, that EV means 'not real car.' But the car we have is a real car – you can drive it at 140 kilometers, you can sit four or five passengers comfortably.

By that measure, the more upright yet unique Leaf is a success – it is a slippery shape with real passenger space, yet it doesn't resort to visually polarizing aerodynamic tricks like faired-in wheel housings and to maximize aero. Instead, it has a smooth face (secreting two charging ports hiding beneath the Nissan logo), strangely prominent blue-tinted headlamps that manage airflow as much as they do nighttime vision, and a roofline whose rearmost pillar reminds us of another Nissan – the Murano. The Leaf has an almost Gallic rump that recalls that of the Versa, a design that in turn reminds us of offerings from Nissan's European partner, Renault.

Original Article can be found at: http://www.autobloga.com/2009/08/01/2010-nissan-leaf-electric-car-in-person-in-depth-and-u-s-b/
 
I love how they say it doesn't resort to 'visually polarizing' trick slike closed in wheels etc... have they seen the Nissan Leaf? It's not the slickest looking vehicle around.

I think you're marketing to a type of people that don't care so much about looks... they are paying more for an electric vehicle because that's what they want. They want a green vehicle, and are willing to make sacrifices (like looks, price to purchase, limited range) in order to do their part to take care of the earth.

In mho Nissan should've made the Leaf as aerodynamic as possible, even if that meant it looks a little goofy. Plus, the goofier the car, the more it stands out, and that's what people want in a vehicle, something that stands out from the crowd.
 
I agree. If wheel covers and other such tricks helped the Nissan Leaf extend it's range, then people that were looking at buying the Leaf wouldn't care so much.

It's not like the Leaf is going to cost the same amount as a Cavalier and you're trying to convince young people that it's a nice looking car and they should make the shift!
 
I'm more with Pacific on this one....

If people are willing to pay more for a Nissan Leaf because it's green, or because the Leaf gets such great 'fuel mileage' then I don't know that they would mind having an ugly-type add on that actually increases the green-ness of the Leaf.

I'd drive the Leaf with wheel covers on, and I'm stupid!
 
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