US 2013 Nissan Leaf officially announced along w/trim levels & options; no EPA range yet

Cool.
Too bad I missed the event today!
Glad to see them making improvements so quickly
I'm really curious about the eco route navigation. the pip has it too, but i have no idea how it optimizes the route…like does it only factor in speed limits? what about terrain/elevation changes? from the slideshow, it appears that the Leaf nav will take elevation into account.

 

Add a keurig and a rotating k-cup holder and the women will love it! Men will follow. Who cares where you are going as long as you have coffee.

 

Nope. New car releases are all the same lately; nav systems, mp3 players, get connected. Too many people thinking inside the box.

 

Actually they have improved a lot about tech in the Leaf. Charges faster and hopefully has longer range. Even added a heater that uses less power.
So more going on than keurigs and info-tainment!

I am interested to hear the EPA's numbers. I could see a leaf with a fast charging time and a good range as my next car.

 

I think for the initial adopter market they did need to upgrade some things.
Nissan Gives Leaf Owners a Preview of the 2013 Model - NYTimes.com

More key than the new EPA will be the pricing that we learn soon.

 

An SL in California for $25K with HOV stickers after state and federal credits should make it an easy sale. In the hot or cold states I still expect slow sales.

 

of course, to actually get the price that far down, you'd need to make $56k/yr if single. the lease pricing should be fairly attractive though.

 

Nissan slashes $6000 off the 2013 LEAF, now $28,800 before incentives - CleanMPG Forums

 

the beauty about the WV credit is that it rolls over (and over and over and over) if you can't claim it all in one year.

 

You pretty much have to do that with a large state tax credit. NC allows 5 years for all of ours (none on EV's though).

 

What is the new hybrid heater? Heat pump + resistance?

 

If California had the crazy incentives that some other states have I would consider it. Then again, they would have crazy incentives for the PiP too

 

I don't know if details are out, but there is definitely a heat pump. The heat pump in the Renault fluence is much more efficient than the HVAC in the 2012 leaf. Eventually if heat pumps get inexpensive enough they will make it into phevs then hvs. They talked about the new leaf being able to go up to 25 miles further in very cold weather versus the old leaf.

ha ha. Many think the HOV stickers plus the $1500 California credit is crazy high on top of the $2918 federal credit considering the cost to Toyota for the batteries is likely $600/kwh or less. Multiply out that out by 4.4 kwh (and remember that nimh costs money too) and you get a $4418 tax credit + HOV on a cost to manufacturer item that is $2640. Now there are other parts and a lot of R&D, but that is a substantial credit. No wonder 1/3 of plug ins go to California. If that doesn't seem like a good deal then you really don't want a prius phv. In perspective the $10K state & federal credit+ HOV on a $14,400 cost battery pack seems like the prius is getting a much bigger subsidy per kwh. Nissan/Renault did screw up, and have invested over 4 billion euros on BEV R&D and plant and equipment, much more than anyone else. The new pricing means they are willing to eat a lot of that investment. Really they don't have much of a choice as if they don't improve the cars and drop prices they eat the investment anyway. I hope it pays off for them 5 years from now. I admire the guts to do this.