I've driven the Nissan Leaf

[gasstingy]

It occurs to me that you must have felt it a bit odd to drive from the left side of the car, just as I did the one time I drove a right hand drive car in Okinawa. But THANKS for sharing this!

My biggest concern isn't with the price of the car, it's the buy the car but lease the battery part. I just can't get passed that part. I'm holding out for a buy the car, batteries included. I read that the manufacturers are interviewing potential purchasers to make sure they are a good fit for their EV's, so I don't think they'd want me to have one. I work for a petroleum distributor and might be thought of as a subversive of some sort. My boss knows I want an EV and has even given me magazines he finds with EV articles in it. He isn't afraid of the future.

[RobertSmalls]

They cancelled the battery lease idea. When you buy a Leaf, you own the whole thing.

Regarding the interviews, hopefully they're just making sure you're the kind of person who has some acceptance of the laws of physics, and you're not going to cry when it has only 80mi range when driven hard, or 60mi range in the winter. I think someone in the energy sector (doesn't matter where) would be a good fit for an EV.

[MetroMPG]

You get to own the battery now? I didn't know that.

Regarding fossil fuel types going for EV's, I'm not surprised they'd be in tune. I recently talked to someone who used to work for one of the big oil co's, and they said the implications of peak oil was a subject of frequent discussion.

[AJI]

Originally Posted by vskid3

I wonder how the electric Tiida/Versa's range would compare to the Leaf's. I prefer the styling of the Tiida/Versa, especially with that paint job. The front of the Leaf is fairly attractive, but the rear is horrible in my opinion.

Well I'd expect the Tiida/Versa has a greater range - most petrol cars of that size seem to get 300 miles or more on a tank of gas, and the Leaf is claimed to do 100 miles. That said, you then have the age-old case of translating Kwh into MPG and working out how much it costs to do that 100 miles in each car and inevitably come to the conclusion that the Leaf is vastly cheaper, yet only any use if you don't regularly do round trips of more than 100 miles unless there's a charger at the other end...

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

There's something odd about a $33k car riding on a platform originally developed for a $10k car.

Economies of scale perhaps?

The Leaf will run a slightly different platform to the Versa though. I got the impression that the car underneath was a Leaf, with a Versa bodyshell and interior being the easiest to fit over the top. I'm sure there are similarities underneath but at the end of the day the Leaf is going to be a dedicated EV rather than a converted road car. The batteries for example are under the floor, rather than taking up the whole trunk.

Originally Posted by Ryland

and a $15,000 battery?

More like $9k

Originally Posted by gasstingy

It occurs to me that you must have felt it a bit odd to drive from the left side of the car, just as I did the one time I drove a right hand drive car in Okinawa. But THANKS for sharing this!

You're welcome

It wasn't actually that odd driving on the left. I've driven in the States before and I've only just come back from the UAE, where I've been driving a LHD SUV for the past three weeks. I actually didn't even notice it was LHD until I played back the video they gave me I've probably racked up a good couple of thousand miles on the "wrong" side of the road