brick
09-04-2009, 05:47 PM
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/../photos/data/2/Japanese_Flag_30x22.jpg You can't touch it...yet...but this exciting little vehicle is coming to US shores soon. (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/new_car_reviews/article6813580.ece)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Nissan_Leaf_BEV.jpgJonny Smith - London Times (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/new_car_reviews/article6813580.ece) - August 30, 2009
Do you really need more than this for your day to day activities? Be honest! --Ed.
Not for the first time, the Japanese look like stealing a march on the Americans. While General Motors makes a song and dance about its Volt — with everyone from Barack Obama to Arnold Schwarzenegger heralding it as a new dawn for zero-emission motoring — Nissan has been quietly preparing its own buzz box.
It is called the Leaf EV (electric vehicle) and goes on sale in Japan and the US next year, ahead of the Volt. Nissan has form when it comes to electric cars: it first made one in 1947, called the Tama, when oil shortages after the second world war made electric power a viable alternative.
The company ditched the car in 1950 as economic recovery began, but since 1992 it has invested billions of yen in lithium-ion battery research, hoping to solve the puzzle of how to build an electric car that people will want to buy. In the Leaf the manufacturer reckons it has cracked the problem. The vehicle can reach about 90mph, carry five passengers up to 100 miles and be fully recharged in 30 minutes, if you have the specialist kit (but significantly longer, if you don’t).
According to Nissan, 80% of daily driving in Britain covers less than 30 miles, so its EV offspring is designed for survival within and beyond the city limits. But for us to become leccy disciples, the price has got to be right. Nissan is pitching the Leaf to sell for £18,000-£20,000. That way it isn’t just limited to flower strokers who will pay a premium for zero-emission transport.
At Nissan’s new global HQ, still under construction in Yokohama, I get to meet the Leaf for the first time. It looks, well, pretty normal. ... http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/new_car_reviews/article6813580.ece
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Nissan_Leaf_BEV.jpgJonny Smith - London Times (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/new_car_reviews/article6813580.ece) - August 30, 2009
Do you really need more than this for your day to day activities? Be honest! --Ed.
Not for the first time, the Japanese look like stealing a march on the Americans. While General Motors makes a song and dance about its Volt — with everyone from Barack Obama to Arnold Schwarzenegger heralding it as a new dawn for zero-emission motoring — Nissan has been quietly preparing its own buzz box.
It is called the Leaf EV (electric vehicle) and goes on sale in Japan and the US next year, ahead of the Volt. Nissan has form when it comes to electric cars: it first made one in 1947, called the Tama, when oil shortages after the second world war made electric power a viable alternative.
The company ditched the car in 1950 as economic recovery began, but since 1992 it has invested billions of yen in lithium-ion battery research, hoping to solve the puzzle of how to build an electric car that people will want to buy. In the Leaf the manufacturer reckons it has cracked the problem. The vehicle can reach about 90mph, carry five passengers up to 100 miles and be fully recharged in 30 minutes, if you have the specialist kit (but significantly longer, if you don’t).
According to Nissan, 80% of daily driving in Britain covers less than 30 miles, so its EV offspring is designed for survival within and beyond the city limits. But for us to become leccy disciples, the price has got to be right. Nissan is pitching the Leaf to sell for £18,000-£20,000. That way it isn’t just limited to flower strokers who will pay a premium for zero-emission transport.
At Nissan’s new global HQ, still under construction in Yokohama, I get to meet the Leaf for the first time. It looks, well, pretty normal. ... http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/new_car_reviews/article6813580.ece