Interesting Article on Roll Out in Kitsap

This article has a number of interesting points to make about the rool-out in one of the first areas....

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/apr/23/kitsap-buyers-lining-up-for-electric-leafs/

Good article, thanks. The only thing I'm not sure about is the statement about the cars being built in Tennessee. I thought that factory wasn't even built out yet, and the first cars will come from Japan? Oh well, still pretty interesting. And the comments at the end of the article still have the negative nellies weighing in (who will pay the electric bill?). I'd like to find out how many cars our local dealers has the reservations for....

The first cars, until 2012, are definitely being made in Japan. I think this was just a way of reassuring people that the cars will be American sourced, eventually. No doubt the editing in the space allowed in the paper took out the qualifiers.

Actually, a number of statements in the article gave me the impression some sloppy reporting was involved.

The Puget Sound area will be the first of five test markets to get the four-door, five-passenger compacts

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I suspect "one of the first five" would have been more accurate.

For an extra $940, customers can get a higher trim model that includes a spoiler with a solar panel that helps power the radio, heat and air conditioning

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Umm, radio, yes, but not heating or air conditioning! The solar panel is only charging the accessory battery. heating and air conditioning are driven by the main 24 kWh battery.

Nine hundred car buyers can get a 220-volt charging system for free if they sign up for a study in which they provide information about their Leaf experience. They can charge up a battery in eight hours. They're determining where to put the rest of the stations. Local municipalities have other stimulus funds that could go toward charging stations.

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The first part is OK, but as soon as they start talking about "charging stations", where to site them, and stimulus funds, I'm pretty sure the topic has slid over to 440V DC quick chargers. There's a big difference between a 220V AC adapter that most owners will have in their garage and an external DC charger that will cost $40,000 dollars or more.