Nissan IDS concept shows Next Gen Leaf with 60kwh

[RegGuheert]

This report makes it seem like Nissan developed the battery - not LG. I wonder if there was some collaboration ...

It does sound that way. But note that Nissan never made the cathode matherial: that was always purchased. I suspect that they have simply changed vendors for the cathode material (to LG Chem) and are still manufacturing the batteries themselves. That would allow them to have the most control over the design of the batteries with the least disruption to their current manufacturing flow.

[evnow]

The big question would be - what is Nissan's cost to make the cells. I doubt it is $145/kWh that GM gets from LG.

The chance of whole sale shift to LG sourcing was always small - but I'd expect more open collaboration between LG & Nissan than this hush-hush thing. May be something will be announced in a year or so.

[evnow]

as far as SUV, just a guess. its a prototype so could go anywhere at this point but looking at the pictures I see either a car with very short windows or a vehicle that is taller than a normal car making the windows "normal sized. I am guessing its the latter making this car bigger than a LEAF. from the description where it states that seats will turn slightly inwards when in auto mode tells me the interior has to be bigger since my LEAF has no where near enough room

Looks to be shorter than Leaf. Ghosn isn't exactly tall ...

[DaveinOlyWA]

as far as SUV, just a guess. its a prototype so could go anywhere at this point but looking at the pictures I see either a car with very short windows or a vehicle that is taller than a normal car making the windows "normal sized. I am guessing its the latter making this car bigger than a LEAF. from the description where it states that seats will turn slightly inwards when in auto mode tells me the interior has to be bigger since my LEAF has no where near enough room

Looks to be shorter than Leaf. Ghosn isn't exactly tall ...

this pix shows a lot more perspective than anything else I have seen. but its a prototype. it will most definitely be much different in reality. I for one couldn't buy it. its too low for me. too much work to climb out of that one

[evnow]

this pix shows a lot more perspective than anything else I have seen. but its a prototype. it will most definitely be much different in reality. I for one couldn't buy it. its too low for me. too much work to climb out of that one

Yes - I hope it is taller than this as well.

[GetOffYourGas]

I'm going to go against the grain here, and say that I hope Nissan does offer something this sporty and low with a BEV powertrain and a 60kWh battery. It doesn't have to be the next Leaf, but didn't Ghosn say that the Leaf could become a "family" like the current Prius? I hope that one of them is a sports car.

In some respects, I do like that my 2012 Leaf is very upright; it makes loading and unloading the kids much easier. But on the other hand, it makes driving it much more bland and disconnected from the road. In my case, my kids will be out of car seats by the time I buy my next EV, so loading and unloading is much less of an issue. And I'm on the shorter side, and a bit agoraphobic when it comes to my cars. I want them to fit me like a glove, with little to no "excess" space. This combines with my obsession for efficiency, and the larger the vehicle, the more the drag.

Anyway, maybe someday someone will make a compact sporty BEV with a 200+ mile range. The IDS is one of the closest things I've seen to that goal (others are the Delta Wing and the ES Flow concepts)

[evnow]

Sports car is a niche. EVs are a niche.

An EV sports car will thus be a niche within a niche. No, my guess is this won't happen soon. Afterall even Nissan Z car is getting a CUV treatment.

My guess is we'll see EVs in this sequence
- Compact Hatch (Leaf 2)
- Family sedan (Infiniti LE)
- Mini Van (e-nv200)
- CUV
..
...
..
..
..
- low profile EV sports car

[GetOffYourGas]

Oh, I know. I wasn't making a prediction. I was merely stating what I wish I could drive. In the meantime, I would settle for a car with less weirdness than the current looks, but a little more interesting than the Bolt concept. The Bolt is nothing special looking (looks a whole lot like a sonic hatchback), but the IDS has a lot of character. Some of that character is concept-car showiness. But I hope some of it sticks.

[evnow]

http://www.motortrend.com/auto_shows/to ... _in_tokyo/

The Nissan IDS is arguably the most significant concept of the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show. Why? It's built on an all-new EV platform that will underpin the next-generation Nissan Leaf. What's more, Nissan sources say the exterior styling is very close to that of the next-gen Leaf, scheduled to debut in 2018.

That has been my guess as well.

[NeilBlanchard]

I agree that the IDS Concept is likely to be very close to the next gen Leaf - the exterior design, anyway. The 60kWh battery pack looks to be ready for production, right now.

Another detail that makes me think the IDS is the next Leaf, is the arched ridges on the hood, and the small "pockets" at the base of the 'A' pillar look ready for optical mirrors. I wish / hope that we can finally get video mirrors, but I'll bide my time with optical mirrors in the mean time.