Nissan Electric Car is Coming, But Fast Enough?
The Nissan Leaf carries an MSRP of $33,720 with federal tax savings of up to $7,500. Photo: Flickr/kosabe
The Nissan Leaf electric car has reported more than 17,000 pre-orders, and the first model isn’t even due out until December. But according to BusinessWeek, the company’s current production capacity will only be able to make 12,000 cars by March, meaning potential delivery delays.
The Leaf promises gas-independent driving and the ability to travel as far as 100 miles on a single charge. The car is able to store so much energy because it uses lithium-ion batteries, the same batteries that hold charges for most cell phones and laptops.
For those concerned about performance or charging costs, Nissan claims it can reach speeds of 90 mph, and it costs about $2.75 in energy costs to fully charge the battery either at home or a public charging station.
Nissan is still unclear about the availability of public charging stations, which would be necessary for trips longer than 100 miles since the car does not come with a gas tank.
The company is also looking into ways to increase production, in order to roll out more cars during early 2011. It will have competition in the electric car market from the Chevrolet Volt and the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid, but the Volt only promises 40 miles on one charge and Prius has not yet revealed its mileage.
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As of June 17th 2011 we have upgraded our comment system to use Facebook comments. The below comments are closed and are listed for historical purposes.
Linda A.
posted on May 28th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
This isn’t unusual, Trey. As a matter of fact, this situation is often the case with hot new car models. I remember there were waiting lists for VW’s New Beetle. There were waiting lists for the Prius. When each came out, it was a novelty to see one on the roads; demand far exceeded supplies. Now, both cars are commonplace. I have no doubt that it will ultimately be the same with the Leaf, and, when that happens, I should think that the issue of public charging stations will have to be addressed as well.
Cowgirl
posted on June 2nd, 2010 at 10:14 am
Isn’t that putting the cart before the horse? I am sure California will have power stations… which makes me laugh since they were having rolling blackouts and cannot provide enough energy to sustain a car system… but in Wyoming, they will need to build them between major cities. Am I really going to sit a day between major cities just to charge my vehicle? Or taking a major trip? Really??????????? I think not. I also think that it would be ridiculous for most people to own two vehicles. One for daily use and one for long trips. Like it or not, in some states there is no mass public transit to get you anywhere. Or from nowhere. I like the idea, but they need to come up with a way to charge on the go.
M Keane
posted on June 2nd, 2010 at 10:38 am
This is really exciting, but leaves many questions. The cost for gasoline for a hybrid is around $1,750 a year and the cost for electricity for this vehicle seems to be about $1,000. How long will the batteries last? When you say 100 miles, is that related in anyway to amount of time – 100 miles of city driving takes many hours more than 100 miles of rural or highway driving. Still, ever since GM did away with their electric car, I’ve been anxious to see another manufacturer take the lead.
Todd Osenbaugh
posted on June 2nd, 2010 at 12:48 pm
I visited my local Chevrolet Dealer to get some info. about the Volt and came away angry! Seems that Chevy is going to offer the Volt only on the East & West coasts.They couldn’t even give me a pamphlet! (Amarillo, TX)
Timothy
posted on July 23rd, 2010 at 7:27 pm
Great, so now we can look forward to burning more coal as we continue to over-strain the electricity grid which has a recent history of major black outs and brown outs.
Do people really believe that their electricity sources are clean?
If you get your electricity from a nuclear plant, and this vehicle fits your lifestyle, good for you. The rest of you need to stop living in Fantasy Land.