Electric Vehicles, part 3

[see part 1 from Sept 2008 and part 2 from April 2009]

I have a big pile of electric vehicle (EV) information and developments to write about since last April, but no time no time no time so this will just be a quick post to write about the Nissan LEAF.

I've written at length about Tesla and their Roadster sports car (see Part 2 above) and pretty much everyone has seen that car in media reports by now.  Of course, it's wildly expensive and somewhat impractical, but it's the first real EV car -- a real, highway capable, four wheel car, in volume production and showing up on streets all over the US and Europe now.

But that's hardly the car for the average Johnny Paycheck.  But by this fall, two new models will be in dealerships and in the hands of consumers and getting a ton of press:  the Nissan LEAF and the Chevy Volt.  GM is increasingly betting the farm on the Volt so you're seeing it all over TV, in brand advertising and the inevitable gee-whiz TV reports about EVs and energy independence.  But the Volt won't actually be available for sale until November, and even then it's going to be a limited launch in a few select markets (as I write this, those markets appear to be California, Michigan and Washington DC.)

While the GM Volt was announced over three years ago, Nissan didn't say a thing about their plans until surprising us just months ago (August 2009) with The Nissan LEAF.  This is a pure EV -- all battery and motor, no gas generator or gas tank like the Volt or other hybrid cars.  It looks like a Versa, if you've seen that Nissan hatchback.

So the Nissan will be the next car to market, beating the Volt by a couple months, and it may come out in higher volumes and steal the show from the Volt.  That said, it is a pure EV, with no "range extender" gasoline generator, so people are going to be swimming in "range anxiety" and frankly it's not a car that you're going to use for long trips, at least not for a few years until charging stations become far more widespread.  The maximum range is 100 miles, after which it'll need several hours to recharge.  Right now this is typical for EVs.

Nissan is doing a roadshow with this car, the "Zero Emission Tour", and it passed through Atlanta last weekend.  They had the car set up for viewing in Lenox Mall, with a posse of young shiny PR droids standing around smiling and answering questions.  You couldn't actually touch the car, much less get in it -- they had it roped off.  But you could get a good look at it and see that this thing is real and it's coming.  They also had a charger stand.  This is the thing that you'd have mounted in your garage, wired to your house power like a clothes dryer or electric oven.  The "nozzle" plugs into the charging port in front of the car.  Typically you'd leave it plugged in overnight and have it all charged up for you in the morning, ready for up to 100 miles of driving.  The cost of electricity is nearly negligible, say a dollar or or two for a fill up.

This close up photo of the charging port on the car shows that it actually has two ports.  The one on the right is the new US standard, called SAE J1772, that all electric cars will be incorporating starting this year.  For scale, that's about the size of a silver dollar.  Up to now there have been half a dozen different plug types, basically one for each car maker, and none compatible with each other.  Now with this new plug standard, we can start building out public charging infrastructure.  The port on the left is an older Japanese standard, I think.

All this is very interesting and all, but there's pretty much no chance that I personally will be getting this car.  It's got the same god-awful ugly styling of the Versa, meaning ... emasculating.  Further it's got the get-up-and-go performance you'd expect from a family hatchback -- meaning not much.  Sure, 0-60 in 8.5 seconds is brisk, but I know what EVs are capable of  and I want gut-clenching acceleration in mine, thank you.  For me, that's half the allure of the entire enterprise!

Getting closer!

Comments

[Chris C.]

And now we have a damning report in Wired that Nissan has decided not to include active thermal management in their battery pack.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/01/nissan-leaf-2/

That may not mean much to you if you don't know EVs, but it means that you could have terrible battery performance. Meaning unhappy surprises during very cold weather, like getting 50 miles of range instead of 100. Like getting stranded on the highway in 20 degree weather. The BMW MiniE test program underway now has demonstrated how badly unmanaged batteries can fail.

Here's what a GM manager had to say: “Thermal management [with lithium manganese batteries] has bookend issues to manage: minimized power at low temperatures and life reduction at high exposure to higher temperatures.” Those battery packs are expensive for a reason.

[Chris C.]

The charge port on the left is actually a "fast charge" connector, designed to inhale power faster than the J1772 can (limited to 120/240 VAC power). I don't think there's a standard for that yet so it may be propietary.

[Chris C.]

Nissan appears to have been generous with themselves on stating the 100 mile range, having used the "LA4" cycle to calculate it. The LA4 cycle is essentially a low-speed city driving profile, with hardly any highway speed driving. Actual range will likely be much shorter than 100 miles. Literally, your mileage may vary!

[Chris C.]

Nissan announced their pricing of the Leaf this week, and by most analyses it's a game changer.

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/03/31/new-york-2010-the-inside-story-of-the-nissan-leaf-price/

Supposedly the audio there is worth a listen too.

[Chris C.]

A few notes relayed from an insider:

In Atlanta, two Nissan dealers will have Leaf specialists on-staff (not sure if that's mechanics or sales): Nalley Nissan in Decatur and Capitol City Nissan in Chamblee.

The car will have an "ECO" mode that applies more aggressive braking regen; this will require a more active right foot but will result in even better performance in city driving.

The car will launch with a 3.3 kW charger; either 2011 or 2012 will then also offer a 6.6 kW charger option, which will halve the charging time.