Fully Charged Drives a Leaf...

[GaslessInSeattle]

My ears perked up quite a bit when Robert mentioned how big oil and the big car manufacturers have typically worked together and then asked Carlos if he had gotten any heat from big oil for creating a vehicle which does not use their product. I was a bit surprised at the answer.

Honestly, I have been skeptical enough of the power of greed that I would have figured any company that bucks the trend and comes out with a vehicle like the Leaf would have to protect those responsible from assassination attempts.

I do believe this type of vehicle is a direct threat to oil profits and I see that as a very good thing!

g

 

[davewill]

I do believe this type of vehicle is a direct threat to oil profits and I see that as a very good thing!

Well, I don't believe that. I think the peak oil folks are right. Oil companies are going to sell every drop regardless of what we do with transportation. The stuff is just too convenient and valuable. What we need to do is to keep eliminating the dirtiest uses, but nothing is going to cause oil demand to drop any time soon, maybe ever.

 

[Kataphn]

In the video, you could see that each rear side passenger has a hand grip above them. I am going to go out to my LEAF soon and check but I don't think our US cars have those in the rear?! Along with smaller rear headrests, another difference for UK cars.

 

[Skywagon]

Yeah, this screen capture from autoblog green shows the smaller rear headrests and the rear handles.... interesting.

 

[ecoobsessive]

My car has the handles above all passenger doors - 2 in back and 1 in front. But I got the big headrests.

 

[TEG]

Mostly great. Interesting. You can see he has a lot of vision and deep thinking going on.

Couple of nitpicks:

at 11:30 "The only way to store energy is in a battery..."
(What about flywheels? Pumping fluids up hill? Super-heating salt?, etc...)

at 23:54 "In many countries electric cars can park anywhere, such as handicapped spots."
(Which countries? Isn't that unfair to the handicapped that need those wide, easy access spots?)

 

[EVDrive]

A very interesting video, definitely worth the time. Interesting also where he says he made a 6 billion investment with ev's. The leaf is a luxurious driving car though, minus the leather seats of course. Lucky us. Thanks for the sweet ride Carlos. Keep up the good work.

Carlos joins Robert in the car. Great conversation. Enjoy
A very interesting 19.6 miles.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anMAn089sC0[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anMAn089sC0&feature=player_embedded

 

[TomT]

Since I don't either, I simply removed them and stored them away in a bag in the garage. An even better and cheaper solution!

Since I almost NEVER have anyone in my backseat, I want 'em!!!

 

[Azrich]

Great interview by Robert of Carlos Ghosn about the LEAF, its future, battery development, etc. The commitment of Ghosn and Nissan to the electric vehicle comes through clearly. Ghosn calls it "a vision for society" and that Nissan invested about $6 Billion in developing the batteries and the vehicle. That is a HUGE investment!

This video is really worth your time to view it. Congrats to Robert Llewellyn and his people for arranging this interview!

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

You know, that is such a simple solution I had not even thought of it... and we have two car seats in the back, so the need for head rests is nill at this point. I'm going right down to the garage and removing them right now! Thanks for the all too simple solution!

g

Since I don't either, I simply removed them and stored them away in a bag in the garage. An even better and cheaper solution!

Since I almost NEVER have anyone in my backseat, I want 'em!!!