Nissan: Leaf will snag Prius owners

The thing is that URL (absoluteefficiencyDOTcom) is just a place holder web site, owned by a guy in Texas. He republished it from Nissan ... but I still can't remember where I 1st spotted it.

 

I have no doubt that some Prius owners will buy Leafs (Leaves?). If I were in Nissan's shoes, I'd be going after Prius owners without a doubt. As you saw in the presentation, the target audience for PHVs and EVs is exactly the same audience we found 10 years ago when we launched Gen 1. Nissan knows this, GM knows this, heck everyone does. Our target buyer is not a secret.

The big question is HOW MANY will buy, and more importantly, will it be a household pairing (Prius + Leaf) or a replacement? More interesting is what happens when the Toyota PHV and EV come to market as well. All fun stuff to think about (yes I get paid to do this!).

I'm also quite certain some good people from Nissan have been on PriusChat for some time, lurking and learning about all of you. I actually think at some point they may come out of the closet, if you will. This is a third-party site, after all, and though it's called PriusChat, I don't think Danny or anyone else would mind another manufacturer participating here.

Hopefully they'll see this post and drop in to say hi.

Doug Coleman
Prius Product Manager
Toyota Motor Sales, USA

 

Am I the only one thinking this very simple solution could completely patch the big issue with EVs: their range?

A series hybrid, in which you carry the weight of the ICE only when you need it.

 

Wow! You get paid to do what most of us are doing while we are being paid to do something else...lucky bastard...

Would you say you found this audience 10 years ago, or did economic and enviromental realities coupled with brilliant advertising create this audience? Or I would assume a combination of all of these factors.

 

We had an idea 10 years ago about who the buyer would be, but in reality, it wasn't any brilliant market research or advertising that made Prius what it is today. We just invented the car; we didn't create the market or "the movement". People discovered it, bought it, talked a lot about it, and then they rallied around it together. Ultimately, it's been our customers who made Prius what it is today, not Toyota.

Doug Coleman
Prius Product Manager
Toyota Motor Sales, USA

 

In my case it will be a Prius + Leaf. The Leaf will be my commuter vehicle, and the Prius will move down to be my wife's car. It will then be bumping out our Civic Hybrid, so Honda loses here, not you.

 

There is no question that some Prius owners will sell their car and get a Leaf. Others who were considering purchasing a Prius will purchase a Leaf instead. The question is how many......

There will be more 'overlap' with Volt buyers, so if the Leaf steals sales from any one car it will be the Volt even though none of these cars are in the same class.

 

I think it is obvious that I agree with you, I am the one who keeps promoting the idea for the Leaf. (Toyota clearly has the expertise, it would be ironic if Toyota made such a product for the Leaf)

 

What does this have to do with my ability to beat a Leaf in a race? Are you saying an acceleration that is purely electric is faster than my Prius?

 

the question posed

"will my Leaf beat my Prius in a race?"

as for the Leaf replacing the Prius, it is a long way from that day. battery range would have to increase dramatically. for many, it will be a joint household like i plan to do

 

Thanks for the comment - interesting to see what you guys think about this.

We are replacing our old ICE car with Leaf. The other ICE car will be replaced with a PHEV, larger than Volt, whenever that comes out. Given the current battery technology & economics, I think that combination would be the most practicle for a two car family that wants to cut down on oil use.

BTW, a couple of years back when I did the calculations - I found that it was better in terms of emissions to wait and buy an EV rather than get a new prius, so I decided to wait.

 

i think it will be just like the prius, in ten years, it will be reasonably popular. but will probably have much more competition now that most mfg's understand the paradigm shift.
although, i could easily see gm being lulled back into a sense of complacency if suv sales continue to trend upward in the short run.

 

10 Years from now - I don't expect too many ICE sales, if Peak Oil is for real.

 

see . . . all this time, I'd heard Toyota jumped feet first into hybrids, because they thought GM was doing it . . . and Toyota didn't want to get caught with their technological shorts down around their ankles ... so to speak.



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peak oil is a function of gas price and exploration costs. if we can pursue alternative energy sources effectively, we may never see it.

 

WOW, nobody has answered my very simple question: Will a Prius beat a Leaf from 0 mph?

A "thanks" to the best answer. And I know you want those thankses.

 

I don't agree with this - but I don't want to turn this into a peak oil discussion. We can always do that at TheOilDrum.

 

- if you have 20 people in a sealed room ... the ONLY way to stop the air supply from running out, is for the 20 people to stop breathing. Even ONE person ... will exhaust the resource. So it is with the earth's oil. We CAN slow down the inevitable ... but we are on a collision course with destiny. The only reason we'll never run out, is because it simply gets too expensive to extract that remaining 1/2. Like extracting gold from sea water ... just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean you won't loose your financial shirt doing it.

:focus:

Look at the Prius buying trend. This will likely reveal how it will go with the Leaf :



When the Gen II came out - it looked different ... acted different, and early adapters jumped into the buying fray. 2004 was the take-off year. WHAM. Combine that with gas prices, and good marketing, the manufacturer is on their way with a winner. With most people regularly driving under 100 miles a day, as well as EV incentives being WAY bigger than PHEV incentives, the EV becomes a bigger bargain, IMO.

I'm hoping to gawd that Toyota is having the same paranoia they had when GM rattled their hybrid building sabor back in the 1990's. I'm hoping that Toyota is knee-knocking scard ... that they've slammed EV R&D into overdrive due to the Leaf beating them to market (ostensibly) ... and that maybe Toyotas's got a couple aces they're not yet showing.


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Thank you for the reply. To me that's an interesting, somewhat unexpected response. I think Toyota is being a little too humble. I think Toyota is deserving of taking a bow for what they have accomplished with The Prius.

To me without the success of The Prius, we aren't even discussing The Leaf or The Volt.