Has anyone ever seen a Nissan Leaf on the road?

[Motown_Johnny]

Sorry if this is a bad forum for this post but we kinda don't have a car group.


I have seen the Leaf at the auto show but, to the best of my knowledge, I have never seen one on the road.

Conversely, I am aware of no less than 6 Chevy Volts within a few miles of where I live. Possibly more but I can't swear that the black one I saw last week is different from the one I saw yesterday (you get the idea). They do make those things near where I live and I see a car carrier full on I-94 every now and then. Maybe this is contributing to my personal experience.


It may just be me. Your impressions?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Not only have I seen one on the road...

I've seen it in our garage.

My husband owns one.



Ask me anything!

[Motown_Johnny]

6. What is the actual range you are getting?

and if you don't mind me asking... how much did it cost & did you lease or buy?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. It's my husband's car, so I'm not real clear on the answers...

He bought it, plus he installed a home charging station.

He's getting at the minimum, 40 miles between charges. It will go farther than that, but I'm not sure how much.

I *think* it will go 70 miles between charges, but that varies a lot, depending on how much stress you put on the battery. Heating uses up the battery fast, as does cooling.

[Electric Monk]

2. We do have a car forum, actually, but it doesn't get a lot of traffic

The most recent post was a week ago...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1205

[Motown_Johnny]

5. Car forum... traffic.... I get it

Good one!

and thanks for the link.

[PoliticAverse]

3. Apparenly about 12,000 Leafs have been sold in the US, keep looking...

[Lars39]

4. There's one in the town near us.

We occasionally see it at the grocery store.

[NYC_SKP]

7. We have one at work. Also, a Mitsubishi iMiev and a friend with a Tesla.

I can recommend the Leaf or iMiev for anyone who has access to other transport for other trips because a range under 100 miles can be rough for some of us as the only way to get around.

The Volt and the Plug-in Prius solve that problem, allowing for around 40 miles all electric transport everyday but also a way to refuel with petrol for longer trips.

I prefer the Volt *idea* but don't care so much for the actual car which I have driven and which I find heavy and overhanded and overdesigned (not surprising for GM) compared to my lighter and more utilitarian Prius III with 108K miles.

The Volt is all electric with an on-board gas generator, also called a "Series Hybrid", and is thus an all electric all the time power train.

If somebody makes a lighter one in the form of a wagon or van, I'll be all over it.

[Motown_Johnny]

27. A TESLA!!!! Which One!!

Is it the new "S" Class?


I know the roadsters look cooler but the new four door is the coolest electric car I have seen (and has a range up to 300 miles).

They store the batteries under the passenger compartment. It is freaking brilliant. Long, wide, flat batteries that don't take up any room other than lifting the chassis an extra six or seven inches. I expect this innovation to be copied in most, if not all, future electric vehicle designs.


I love The Volt, mostly because it has no range limitation, but the "S" class is right up there with it IMO.


Edit to add: I have also driven The Volt but because I spend a lot of driving larger vehicles I don't have the same impression of it as you do. If I was spending most of my drive time in a smaller vehicle, as you seem to be, then I might feel the same way.

Also, Ford was going to make a plug in extended range hybrid "Van" but canceled the project. They went with the plug in Fusion hybrid instead. The do still have the pure EV Transit (van)I hope that project gets resurrected because it seemed to be a good idea.

[NYC_SKP]

28. It's an older Roadster...

I love he ride and, interestingly, the iMiev shares the Tesla Roadster's aggressive regenerative braking which provides serious deceleration.

I think you're right that the driving impression of the Volt is a relative one, I'm usually in a Prius.

I look forward to driving a Tesla sedan-- they are filled with WOW!

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

8. I have seen a few in Orange County

But at the end of the day selling entry level subcompacts for the price of a BMW 328i is a fools errand.

[Egalitarian Thug]

20. Yes, who'd want to drive a POS Beemer?n /t

[Tikki]

9. Many times...see them on the 101 Ventura freeway SoCal along with a...

gazillion Prius and just about every other kind of hybrid.



Tikki

[kestrel91316]

11. Nope, but every other car on the street these days is a Prius.

[Motown_Johnny]

23. I see lots of those too but not all are electric

So I am not sure how many I have seen are, if any. I assume most are the Hybrid.

[kestrel91316]

31. ALL Priuses are hybrids. None are regular gas engines,

and AFAIK none in the US are pluggable either.

[Motown_Johnny]

37. I believe some new ones are pluggable

http://www.toyota.com/prius-plug-in/


^snip^


The Prius Plug-in will be available at participating dealers starting March 2012 in 15 launch states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. Availability will open up to all other states in 2013. Visit the Toyota Hawaii site for more info about ordering in the state of Hawaii.






But right now I am interested in electric vehicles (including extended range electrics). The new Ford line could change everything and I am looking for a "before picture" to compare where we are a year or so from now.

From this thread it sounds like the people in CA see more electrics than the rest of us.

[kestrel91316]

38. Electrics are not readily identifiable, but Priuses are.

I am just going by what drives past at street speeds. So yeah, we probably have a bunch.

[sharp_stick]

12. There's one in the lot at work

along with 2 Volts. I haven't figured out who owns them but I've got some questions for em'

[spanone]

13. yes. several.

[Fumesucker]

14. I have seen a Leaf and it was larger than I was expecting..

I don't recall seeing a Volt yet but I'm not sure I'd recognize one without seeing the nameplate..

IMO the Leaf is somewhat more distinctive than the Volt, that can be either good or bad depending on your perspective.

[Motown_Johnny]

24. The Volt is most easily recognized by the rear tail lights

The front looks pretty much like any other new Chevy. The side view is a little different but not as much as the rear.

[A HERETIC I AM]

15. I've deliverd quite a few.

My company hauls Nissans out of the Port of Jacksonville for delivery in the Southeast and I have carried a number of them over the last few months. I make it a point to ask the guy checking in the cars at the dealership how they sell. It depends on the market. Not so much in 'pick up truck country', if you will, but they sell better in larger metro areas.

I dropped one at a dealer in Forest City, NC (about 70 miles West of Charlotte) the other day. I asked the guy how many they've sold.

"One" was his answer.

The dealers in Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, And the other major markets in the SE sell more of them, but they won't and really can't do too well in the more rural areas.

Same situation with the new Fiats. They're commuter cars, and if your daily driving habits well exceed 75 miles, people shy away from pure electrics and tiny commuter cars (the Smart Car is another example of this)

[Cronkite]

22. Makes sense

Totally useless vehicles outside of urban areas. I have to drive 15 miles just to get to a grocery store. Any kind of major shopping is over 50 miles away.

[Honeycombe8]

16. Not here in Dallas. I've seen several Volts, and there are Priuses (Priis) all over the place.nt

[rgbecker]

17. Drove 4000 miles to midwest and back to Massachusetts and saw one Volt.

In Kentucky. Yet to see a Leaf. I did see Prius has a wagon now. Would like to see more and the new Ford electric car too. $4.00+ gas is killing me and my guzzlers. But I'm a used car buyer and will have to wait for the trickle down theory to kick in.

[Motown_Johnny]

25. The new Fords are what have me curious about this

To me it looks like the new EV Focus is aimed directly at competing with The Leaf while the new Fusion Energi seems to be trying to undercut the Volt. (Edit to add: and the C Max seems to be aimed at competing with The Prius).


I'm not to surprised you didn't see electric vehicles out on the highway. The pure electrics have such limited range as to not be able to make those kind of trips. One of the Volt owners I know (kinda) said he drove his up to Mackinac Island (from suburban Detroit) and he said he got about 41 MPG on the trip.



FYI, I am also a used car buyer and I developed a plan last year. My Saturn SC1 started giving me engine trouble and I looked into every possible solution to keeping that car. One possibility was to convert it to electric. I figured with the plastic body panels those things have, if it had an electric motor then the thing could last pretty much forever.

It turns out that small vehicles like that are tough to convert due to the size and weight of the battery needed for any reasonable range. The vehicles that are designed with this in mind don't have the same problem as one you are trying to convert. The automatic transmissions are also a problem because an electric motor creates much more torque than an internal combustion engine.

So I ended up buying a little Ford Ranger with a 5 speed manual transmission. While researching the possibility of converting my Saturn I came across a posting about these being the easiest to convert (not the Rangers specifically but small pickups with manual transmissions). So my plan now is to keep fixing up the body, interior and other peripherals until this engine starts to give me trouble, then to sink the 5 or 6 K into it to convert it over. With any luck that is still a couple years away (or more) and I might be able to go take the battery and motor from a smashed Volt or Leaf out of a junkyard. I will still need specific cables and mounts to convert my truck over but I have taken an active approach to the trickle down EV market. Somebody has to get rear ended in one of those things sooner or later.

I'll still want something with a gas engine for longer trips but I expect that in a couple years I will be driving a little electric truck as my every day vehicle.

[CreekDog]

34. I'm seeing lots of Leafs in the Bay Area, and a few Volts as well

Priuses are as common here as the Beetle was when I was a kid.

[kwassa]

18. I followed one Leaf, several Volts, and now ....

Several of these. Lexus CT200h. A stylishly overdressed Prius.

[MADem]

19. Never noticed one--I've seen a lot of Toyota hybrids on the road, and a few of those Smart Cars.

Haven't noticed either a VOLT or a LEAF.

Now I will start looking!

[Egalitarian Thug]

21. There are at least two of them here, but I'm seeing Smart cars every day now. n/t

[madokie]

26. So far I've not seen a Leaf but I have seen one Volt

[flvegan]

29. I've seen exactly 1. I felt bad for them.

Although I suppose if all you ever, ever need to do is run to the grocery and back, it's not such a bad choice. Expensive, but not horrible for short, simple tasks.

[bluedigger]

30. Haven't seen any yet.

I don't think they are going to be real popular where the next significant town is 40 miles in any direction.

I've seen a Prius or two, and somebody in town has a Smart Car...

I saw about a dozen Wranglers on my two mile trip back from the dog park last night, though.

[The Second Stone]

32. I've seen several and my brother has

one, which I've driven. I've also seen several volts and one Tesla.

[NNN0LHI]

33. I have only seen a few of the tiny bubble shaped EV's around here. Some with only three wheels

Whenever I go past one in the other lane going in the opposite direction the drivers always look they are terrified and squeezing the steering wheel with all their strength. Not sure if that is a common feature of driving them or not?

Don

[LeftyMom]

35. Yes.

In CA you get to use the carpool lane at all times if your car is sufficiently fuel efficient, so you see a lot of alternative fuel commuter cars. Saving a ton of time (and several dollars a day in bridge toll, if you're in the bay area) turns out to be a huge incentive.

[Odin2005]

36. No Leafs, yet, but I see LOADS of Priuses.

I've seen a few Volts as well.