Leaf Thread: 2016 Model Adds Bigger Battery, 107 Mile Range

  • Thread starter YSSMAN
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niky
There's some good news on the battery front... apparently you can get services that rebuild Prius batteries... so when electrics roll out, they will likely be covered, too. I've heard of numbers around $1000, which isn't that bad if you're only spending it every ten years.
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And that's when the batteries don't last for massive distances in the first place, like this Prius with over 300k miles...

Jim Prower
I'm wondering about the voltages used in these superfast recharging stations. I can see the term "Arcing incident" becoming a problem...
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I can't see it being any more of a problem than storing thousands of litres of flammable liquids in residential areas, which is what we have at the moment...
 
Though it is true many Prii last up to and over the 300k mile mark with absolutely no problems, it's time as well as distance that will degrade a battery.

Still, many long-term owners report that it takes an extraordinarily long time for the packs to degrade, and it's a gradual thing... doesn't make the car useless.
 
I suppose if anything, regular use is actually good for the battery. And of course, in that sort of distance the motor itself will have needed next to no attention at all.
 
kikie
Bah. in: "don't worry about EM radiation or do you mean that it could be problematic?
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I've said it before in response to Dotini's postings on "The Human Thirst for Knowledge" and I'll say it here again:

We are swimming in a sea of EMFs. From the peaks of the highest mountains to the most remote desert, we're bathed in electromagnetic radiation. Static on TV and radio is EMF interference from outer space. All our appliances emit EMF of some sort (nowadays, it's less, because they're better shielded), and even non-hybrid cars emit so much of it that you're not supposed to work on gasoline engines if you're wearing a pacemaker. (preventative precaution only, though... haven't heard of anyone dropping dead...)

In other words, electrics and hybrids are not categorically worse than regular cars. And with the same sort of shielding on the electricals, they won't be any more of an exposure risk.

homeforsummer
I suppose if anything, regular use is actually good for the battery. And of course, in that sort of distance the motor itself will have needed next to no attention at all.
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Which is the best thing about the Prius... as opposed to Corollas and Camries, which seem incredibly vulnerable to sludge and engine varnish...
 
Tomorrow, saturday and the day after tomorrow I'm going to the Zolder track and hopefully I'll be able to drive a or more than one car with alternative fuel. i.e. electric, bio ethanol, frying fat etc... .
 
Pricing for the Nissan Leaf was announced for Ireland recently; €29,995 after a €5,000 government incentive (which also includes a free charging installation at your home).

This is the car I'm most looking forward to in 2011. It is the first viable electric car. The range should be more than enough for over 80% of the population and yes they probably should have a petrol/diesel powered car for emergencies or long trips (>100miles) that need to be fast, but I know in Ireland the majority of people (certaintly those willingly to spend €30,000) already have a second car.

Also in Ireland wind turbines can produce a max of 1GW of power at night, which is almost all wasted, ev cars plugged in at night would greatly increase the efficiency of the national grid. Also carbon capture techniques can be easily installed at large scale energy plants and they also have a higher efficiency values then combustion powered cars.

As for those saying the car wont have enough power they are being a bit presumptuous, the car has 107 BHP and a 0-60 time of ~10seconds and that is more than enough for the daily commute. My car had 98 BHP when it was new, 13 years ago! I often merge with motorways and can keep to the 75mph motorway speeds we have here with ease and I would love to be able to reach 60 mph in less than 11 seconds. These are reasonable figures for Ireland (and I believe Europe) as for the USA I think it is on another planet when it comes to engine size and power for the average driver. This is a car with similar specs to a Ford Focus albeit with the price tag of a Mondeo, but with good reason.

This is no G-Wiz and is better and cheaper than Mitsubishi's iMiev. Chevrolet's Volt (or Opel's Ampere as it'll be called here) is interesting and is probably the sensible choice for this emerging market. But I love that Nissan-Renault have not gone down that route, the fact that they are launching this car now has possibly shaved at least 5 years if not a decade off the advancement time of this technology. Also with regard to the Volt; its late arrival time to the EU and higher cost and complexity lead me to believe it may not be the huge success GM may have hoped for.

However I would only recommend this car to people who have €30,000 disposable income. Although I do want to see it become successful I do believe it is still only a public beta for what the future really holds. Do you really want to risk it having 0 resale value or do you want to use it for 7 years then find out Nissan have discontinued that battery pack. Even the batteries themselves are largely untested in the real world, only last week Sony had a massive recall over its laptop lithium-ion batteries this is not an uncommon thing either.
 
I think this thread title needs updating, it's already been on sale for 3 months, don't have to wait until 2012. Delivery is slow 173 on the road in America, with 13,000 reservations.
I seriously can't believe how cheap yet again you get things for, $25,000 after the tax credit is how much the Leaf costs in America. The same car costs $42,300 here in the UK with the Tax credit, $50,500 without. And they are even going to be made in the UK....
Who is getting the extra money?
A cargo container won't cost $17,000 from US to UK, people should get their cars from America.
 
I saw a Volt the other day. That thing was pretty badass looking.
 
blaaah
I think this thread title needs updating, it's already been on sale for 3 months, don't have to wait until 2012. Delivery is slow 173 on the road in America, with 13,000 reservations.
I seriously can't believe how cheap yet again you get things for, $25,000 after the tax credit is how much the Leaf costs in America. The same car costs $42,300 here in the UK with the Tax credit, $50,500 without. And they are even going to be made in the UK....
Who is getting the extra money?
A cargo container won't cost $17,000 from US to UK, people should get their cars from America.
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Actually, the Leaf won't be produced in the UK until 2013, so the ones we're getting today are coming from Japan.

That would explain the extra cost. It could well come down in a few years once the Sunderland plant starts churning them out, especially since they're going to be producing batteries at the factory too rather than importing them.
 
No it doesn't explain the cost as it doesn't cost $17,000 per unit to ship. It's costs more like $2,000. And that's for an individual, it might just be hundreds of $ for a chartered ship.

Ever since I can remember UK has been a high price for cars, a market where mark ups are hugely high for the manufacturer.
 
blaaah
No it doesn't explain the cost as it doesn't cost $17,000 per unit to ship. It's costs more like $2,000. And that's for an individual, it might just be hundreds of $ for a chartered ship.
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From Japan? And with fewer orders on the books in the UK? There's a mark-up sure but a lot of it is logical. America will be getting a much larger volume of cars than the UK (it's economies of scale), and they have to travel a shorter distance to get there.
 
Yeah I remember pricing up a car I wanted to buy from Japan in an auction, the shipping cost, just for me for one order in the container was £600.
How does £600 turn in to $17,000?
 
You're also forgetting the joy of exchange rates. the GBP is currently doing incredibly poorly compared to pretty much any other currency than that of Zimbabwe. It's why the Leaf has gone up £2k in the UK, because the value of the £ to Yen is making it uneconomical to sell them at the original price.

The dollar isn't doing too badly on the other hand, so America is able to get the Leaf at a much better price.
 
You're getting that the wrong way around. The difference is $17,000 at the moment. If the pound was stronger the difference would be less than that, not greater. If the Leaf was available for the original £28k pre-incentive rather than £30k+, the difference would only be around $14k or thereabouts. If the £ was even stronger, that gap would be smaller.

And remember, although you're comparing price against the U.S, it's the value of £ to Yen that really matters, as that's where they're being imported from.
 
Umm, but if the difference now is $17,000. If the Pound then got stronger the Leaf would be even cheaper to buy from America. So what I am saying is that The pound being weak is not a factor. If a Briton today visited America they could save $17,000 dollars by buying it there, then spending perhaps $2k shipping it back. If the pound got stronger he would be spending less pounds to purchase that cheap Leaf in America and even less shipping it back.
UK is a profiteering market for international products. Has been for decades. The US is almost a loss leading market.
 
blaaah
Umm, but if the difference now is $17,000. If the Pound then got stronger the Leaf would be even cheaper to buy from America. So what I am saying is that The pound being weak is not a factor. If a Briton today visited America they could save $17,000 dollars by buying it there, then spending perhaps $2k shipping it back. If the pound got stronger he would be spending less pounds to purchase that cheap Leaf in America and even less shipping it back.
UK is a profiteering market for international products. Has been for decades. The US is almost a loss leading market.
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But if the Pound was stronger why would you buy it from America in the first place? That's the whole point. If the £ was doing better and the dollar worse, then the difference would be much smaller. The bad exchange rate is the reason Litchfield won't import the JDM Civic Type R at the moment, because they'd have to sell it for about £30k instead of the £23-odd thousand they were when it came out.

It's not a problem you can get around.

I also think you're underestimating the cost of importing something from the States. Personally importing a Mustang adds about £5k to the price of one thanks to all the import duties, getting it SVA tested and the like, and then you have to put up with a steering wheel on the wrong side. Not only that, but with the Leaf you have to sit on a waiting list at the moment anyway. So it's not like you can pop to the USA and get a cheap Leaf right now.

And anyway, it's not just the UK that will sell the Leaf at that price. The whole of Europe is fairly even save for a few countries. It's been years since the UK was significantly more expensive for cars than the rest of Europe.
 
I saw the Leaf at the Houston Auto Show back in January. I was pretty interested seeing this machine up front and trying to see how it works. The real problem I have with cars like the Leaf is how to make them really accessible and useful in cities like here in Houston. A car like the Leaf would be a $35K boat here in Houston on a heavy rain day. So many people down here have trucks and SUVs. It's not like something like the Leaf can be that perfect city car in a city as big as Houston. Of course, you could probably make the same case seeing this car in places like Los Angeles or New York City. Still- very interesting car.
 
2013 Leaf Updates Decrease Price, Charge Time, and Increase Range

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They announced the Japanese market updates a few weeks ago, and it looks like as the production of North American models shifts to Tennessee, we too will be seeing the same on the standard model. The addition of a lower-cost model and decreasing charge times may make it the first shot in a brewing war over more-affordable electric vehicles.
 
Super old thread but it's still relevant.

30kWH battery pack confirmed for 2016, bumps estimated range to 107 miles. Plus a few other minor upgrades.

http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/...mile-range-in-affordable-fun-to-drive-package

Nissan today introduced the 2016 all-electric LEAF with an available 30 kWh battery that provides an EPA-estimated best-in-class* range of 107** miles – a 27-percent increase over the previous 24 kWH battery. The new battery is standard for LEAF SV and LEAF SL models. The 2016 model also offers an enhanced IT system that is more user-friendly and gives drivers greater vehicle connectivity.
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I'd say that 107 mile range is a pretty big deal. Its more than double what the average driver does in a day, and assuming it offers some kind of quick-charge system, it should relieve some range anxiety that these cars tend to have.

The base Leaf S sounds like a pretty good value (under $22k with tax credits), but if it doesn't come with the 30kWh battery - what's the point? I'd think the extra money is definitely worth it to get an extra 20+ mile range out of the car.
 

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