Nissan Leaf - checking it out tonight

Definitely like to hear your commentary about it. Will you ask if the model/style your seeing is what's coming to market?

Looking forward to hearing about it. Slowly but surely things are getting to Electric. I think it only has a 100 Mile range but baby steps!

 

Yep . . . they were just a few blocks away, 2 days ago, in Irvine CA. Went there ... and 2 wednesdays ago, up in santa monica ... went there. I liked it. They had a green screen set up taking pic's so you could see how you look in it. Wish it would have been for real:



Cheezy, but fun.
I took a bunch of high rez pic's with the DSLR, but haven't unloade 'em yet . . . maybe tonight.

.

 

This would seem to be the car to buy in 2011. I would trade in my 2010 Prius on this if it is not too expensive. My work commute is 80 miles round trip. Fugly or not! "Form follows function" Frank Loyd Wright

 

Lucky you! I have to wait until Feb 9th!

 

What's the cost of it?

 

I got to test drive the LEAF when thry just did their road trip here in Phoenix. Very smooth and efficient while also being very powerful. Some of the drivers I rode with really pushed it hard and it zooms. I drove like a hyermilers and it was perfect. I'd bet I can go 120-140 miles on a charge.
The regen also has 2 levels. I go for big regen on down hill drives like we have in AZ from the Grand Canyon all way to Phoenix.

 

$30,000 or less!!...$30,000 or less!!...$30,000 or less!!

 

"Form follows function" Louis Sullivan

 

Whoops, sorry for the huge delay. Said I'd post pics from the Irvine show, and plumb forgot.


Ok, here they are, in no particular order:

















The underbelly was like a giant tupperware sheet running the full width/length of the car. Made it kind of look like a wind up toy.



Check the head light 'bulge' ... like a frog, or a tadpole. The headlight bulge on the Gen III Prius is tiny in comparison.



They said Nissan did it that way so as to create a bit of drafting effect, so that the side view mirrors wouldn't reduce the drag co-efficiency.



Hopefully the next phev/ev pics I take will be of which ever plugin model hits the sales lot first.

.

 

getting a lot of twitter noise about a Smyrna TN plant with 150,000 annual capacity along with 200,000 battery pack.

 

Thanks for the nice photos Hill. I can't wait to test drive one.

 

Just got to drive it at the press event today in Orlando, amazing little car.

 

I cant decide if I like the looks of the leaf... it's a little too "versa" for my liking. I will give it to nissan there is no way you would confuse the Leaf with a Prius. for those who drove it, can you give us a little insight? how did it handle, acceleration. How as the layout of the dashboard? was it too glossy?

 

I'm not a big fan of the looks, but I will be buying one if they deliver on their specs.

 

I wouldn't care how ugly a car is if it's all electric and has good range and performance. -- In fact, I thought the Prius was ugly at first. Took me a year or two to get used to it. And I thought the Xebra looked dreadful when I bought it, but now I think it's cute. Function affects perception.

 

I don't think it's ugly, but its going to weigh in at about 30k. it shouldn't look like a 13k car. so many people give the volt sooooo much grief over being based on a cruze. where is the same criticism?

From a marketing stand point, I would think that nissan would want the Leaf to look more unique. From the side it looks like a versa. From the front and rear the Leaf looks like no other car, but the side profile is like looking at a versa with funny headlights.

 

I don't criticize what the Volt will look like because I still don't believe they will ever build it. Oh, they might build something with the Volt name plate, but I don't believe it will be the car they have been promising.

Anyway, I have a better EV than the Volt for in-town driving, and a better stinker than the Volt for road trips. Even the Volt as promised would be a step backwards for me! And at the likely $40,000 for a Volt, my two cars together cost less!!!