kmp647 wrote:I know this is a lot of speculation, but its plain to see the future sucess of the Leaf or Nissan EV will depend on larger capacity batteries and longer range. I believe Nissan will see a sales plateau in 2014 which will only be broken by a redesign, and or longer range option for the 2015 Leaf. read this as , whatever 2014 sales are Leaf would never sell much above that level ever unless it was offered with significantly longer range and improved styling. Now they might well capture some additional sales by offering the E-nv200 , but it might also steal sales from the Leaf.
To grow its market capture they will need a much improved range .
ask yourself if you would buy or lease another , say a 2015 or 2016 model if there were some minor improvements but no additional range?
I know my answer , no way.
My answer is no way also, but I think Nissan probably will probably have to offer a longer-range BEV under $40k or so to stay competitive especially since Tesla has brought some clarity to the timeline and competition with its Model E plans.
If they offer an under-$40k BEV with a legit 36kwh + and an improved outlook on battery degradation, then my question is will they offer existing lessees a completely (totally) non-penalizing and hassle-free way to trade into the new vehicle before leases are technically up. If they do make a special trade-in offer, I'd consider it but couldn't at all guarantee taking it since I am already out money to deal with the issue (i.e.: trying to set myself up with a used gasoline vehicle), and since the range of choices appears to be slowly expanding, while I wait.