Nissan Leaf... the well thought out Volt killer

[tjts1]

I like this feature.

[RobertSmalls]

That is a really nifty breakdown. No more guesswork.

A few interesting things from that picture: regen isn't as strong as I'd hoped for a car with such a large battery. The Insight's regen is puny, at just shy of 10kW. This car is twice as heavy, has 30 times the battery capacity, and apparently only three times as much regen.

Also, at idle, the Leaf looks like it's using 200W in this photo. That's about the same as the Insight.

[NeilBlanchard]

From this article:

First Full Range Test of Nissan LEAF Yields 116.1 Miles | PluginCars.com

Unless you are completely disengaged from the driving experience, there's not a chance in hell that you'll fail to notice all the warnings the LEAF sends out as your battery is getting low. From warning lights in two different places, to flashing numbers on the main screen, to the navigation system audibly speaking to you and asking you if you want to be routed to the nearest charging station, there's no way you'd be caught surprised. Also, although I didn't cause it to activate myself, the LEAF will go into what's called "Turtle" mode if you really get down to your last bit of usable juice and start progressively limiting your top speed and acceleration rate to try and get you to that charge station.

From this article:

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/10/22...-drive-second/

As AutoblogGreen contributor Chelsea Sexton described so well, the Leaf provides the driver with a ton of information about the battery pack, range and more. Perry said this was totally intentional. "We believe 'range anxiety' is a falsehood, because anxieties only show up when you don't have information," he said. "We're telling you everything that's going on in the car so you shouldn't be surprised." He's not kidding. The dashboard can tell the driver his average distance per kWh (something the Volt can only do through GM's OnStar website) and also has a constantly updated "distance to empty" number, which is a point-in-time reading based on how you're driving right then. This means that when you drive more efficiently, the car takes this into consideration and shows more relative range. If you want to see the number jump up, shift into eco drive mode, which gives you up to 10 percent more range by limiting acceleration and increasing brake regen. A conscious driver should be able to get at least five miles per kWh, but the car's scale goes up to eight miles/kWh.

The central display screen can also display a more detailed range/energy usage screen that shows where the battery's power is going: to the motor, the climate control or other systems. This "hypermiler screen" also tells you how much energy is being regenerated and how many miles you can add by turning off the air conditioner or heater. If all this detail is too much for you, you can just watch the 'trees' grow. On the left of the upper part of the dash is a tree meter and the more efficiently you drive, the more trees you "grow." It takes a little bit of careful driving to make them appear, which is how it should.

Sometimes, though, you'll be maxing out the battery. If you do, the navigation system can tell you where public vehicle chargers are. But how do we know how much energy we're actually using? Nissan has not announced how much of the battery pack's 24 kWh capacity the Leaf will use, but it's almost all of it. It has to be, to offer as much range as it does. The car has a "low fuel" light that comes on at 4 kWh, and Perry said this is not four kWh of the useable capacity, that's four kWh left in the whole pack. A second warning comes on at two kWh, and there's not much more to go below that.

[jamesqf]

...to the navigation system audibly speaking to you...

Just convinced me that I'm never going to buy a Leaf. Machines should not speak, and dashboard displays should not have prompts that need to be responded to.

[Clev]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Just convinced me that I'm never going to buy a Leaf. Machines should not speak, and dashboard displays should not have prompts that need to be responded to.

So you've already broken your gauges and idiot lights so they don't have prompts that need to be responded to?

[SoobieOut]

I am much more impressed with the Leaf than the Volt. Once again the Japanese beat us at our own game.

After the California november elections I can see many Amsterdam style "Coffee" shops opening offering deals on 26 minute charging stations while you "wait".

[tjts1]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Just convinced me that I'm never going to buy a Leaf. Machines should not speak, and dashboard displays should not have prompts that need to be responded to.

Yeah! Lets all go back to living in caves, wearing animal skins and hunting with sticks

[Frank Lee]

I want a modern day Model T, and leave all that techhy gook at home (except for a good EFI system).

[user removed]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I want a modern day Model T, and leave all that techhy gook at home (except for a good EFI system).

I'm kind of on Frank's side of the fence on this one.

Robert, I guess the secret is to accelerate at the same energy consumption rate that you can achieve with max regeneration.

Maybe I'll get a chance to drive one. A good friend is the head of a local Nissan dealer and we have bought several cars from him in the last few years.

It would be interesting to see what the range would be around here with some conservative driving techniques, and my garage never gets very cold in the winter.

They will probably be in the salvage auctions in the next few months. It would be really neat to get one of the batteries for an electric car conversion , or just rebuild the car if it is nailed in the but like my VX.

regards
Mech

[RobertSmalls]

A modern day Model T: a 1995 Geo Metro with power nothing, one side mirror, and a little bit of crash safety. Or you could get a Nissan Versa, which can be ordered without even a radio.

Mechanically, it doesn't get much simpler than the Leaf. It has an air-cooled battery, one motor, no transmission, and no clutch. So what if it has a fancy fuel gauge and a GPS? It's still one of the simplest cars out there.