Nissan Leaf official EPA rating: 99 mpg-e combined, "best in midsize class"

[MetroMPG]

GM's Volt is EPA rated at 93 MPG (US) equivalent, when operating solely electrically (37 mpg with the generator running).

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/bu...volt.html?_r=1

Nissan wins. For now.

[Cd]

I wonder what kind of range we could all get from the car if we whittled the Cd down to .20 or less.
A .28 drag coefficient is horrible - especially when you consider that the GMC Syclone pickup truck was less than .30 when it ran at Bonneville !



( BTW, I'm still wondering what an electric car needs a grille for. A very ugly grille )

[KITT222]

The silver grill on the Volt is mainly aesthetics, yet the bottom black grill is functional. It' so the ICE generator can breath.

Here's an idea: miles per dollar. If that were the case than the Volt wouldn't be the same MPG with the generator running as a Cobalt XFE, and one more than the normal Cruze, a car on the same platform.

[Angelus359]

If only the leaf had smooth wheels, and a better back.


Seriously the back on that thing is horrendus.
It looks like they took up a bunch of engineering papers, ate them, and then vomited.

[NeilBlanchard]

Whew, that's a bit harsh. The back is certainly the worst part, though in person, the thing I notice about the back is the cool line of LED's in the taillights.

[320touring]

looking at this logically..

1. 99us mpge combined is great! Thats 3 times as efficient as my saab- only issue is the range.
2. Its a positive and reasonably accessible step forward from the pious(i mean prius)
3. no one car is ever going to be viable for every tom dick and harry on the street-in this instance, body styling issues should not detract from propulsion advances
4. The high cost will limit sales, even with the car being much more economical than the majority of cars. Most people replace their car on a 3-5 cycle-the fuel savings wont cover the additional depreciation.
6. 5 is likely to change if fuel prices continue to increase.
7. I could only see widespread adoption of this tech if company car users were given facilitg to charge at work, rather than a car benefits package-tightening carbon management over here could boost that.
.
All in all, its a stepping stone, and a robust one at that

[cfg83]

320touring -

I could also see a niche for retired folks that don't have a large daily driving radius. The incentives in California put it in the range of a small car with an upgrade package.

Nissan Leaf May Only Cost $20,000 in California | HULIQ

Nissan Leaf followed the announcement of the Chevy Volt and informed of the national market roll-out plan of its first ever zero-emission electric car. It also said said it will need public support of three to five years for the development of its electric vehicles. Eying for a government financial aid it may only cost 20K in California.

CarloSW2