Prime destined to be doa?

Bottom line is that we will all be dead eventually. Play hard while the game is on.

 

It's cheaper? It arrives sooner?

The Ioniq BEV should arrive late this year, I think. The 200-mile Hyundai car has very few public details behind it yet other than its existence as a car approved for production. I suppose we will hear more about it at a car show sometime in the next 9 months.

Why would anyone buy a 107 mile 2016 LEAF or 114 mile BMW i3?

 

Because they love driving all electric and use it as their "around town" 2nd car? And as said, it is cheaper than one with more battery. Having said that, these people must be EV enthusiasts, and mostly likely there are not enough of them to make such a product line pay for its R&D costs to develop it. We shall see what the uptake is as these cars come to market. It is getting easier and easier to fall into the EV enthusiast category. Total US new car sales of cars with a plug is still near the 1% point, so those voting with their wallets are still 1 in a 100.

 

Because 110 miles is all they need?
I don't expect shorter range BEVs to disappear once longer range BEVs hit the market.
There are people buying the 84 mile Leaf over the 107 mile Leaf now.

Most people that are new to EVs will likely err on the side of the larger battery even if they don't really need it.
Once they get a better idea of their driving range requirements, some will drop the battery size for their next EV.

 

but the leaf is disappearing. even without a low cost long range bev available.

 

A WAG price difference of $5000 to $10,000.

The Leaf is as old as the Volt, and is due for a redesign. Nissan has just been tighter with those details than Toyota was in the lead up to the next Prius.

 

I'm beginning to believe they want to take over the world and be all things to everybody. Too bad it won't change their primary focus. If they are trying to compete, they might have to compete on just price.


Unsupervised!

 

We really don't know Hyundai's primary focus. If quotes from North America branch chiefs were laws of the land, we'd have had the the NS4 PHEV a couple of years ago.

Japan is one of South Korea's closest neighbors, and the Japanese government is pushing fuel cells, and the SK government also has programs. Then there programs for them in the EU and California. Like most corporations, Hyundai is going to follow the government carrot of incentives and hand outs.

Then China is going to be one of the largest car markets in the world, and they are pushing plug ins over FCEVs.

The Mirai hasn't even been out for a year, and Toyota has made a statement of making a smaller, more affordable FCEV.
Honda is talking about the Clarity because it is coming out somewhat soon, but it will also have a PHEV and BEV model.
Aside from a state not too far back about being disappointed about the Tuscan FCEV sales, Hyundai hasn't said much about FCEVs recently.

 

yes, but the biggest problem with the old leaf is range.

 

Like several plug-ins/BEVs, the range of the Leaf creeps up every few years.

It was EPA rated 73 miles when it first came out, 84 miles in 2014, and up to 107 on the two higher trims for 2016.

For the next generation Leaf, most expect the leap to be significantly greater.

 

exactly. but at 107 miles, there's no reason for it not to be selling well.

 

Yeah, hard to know for sure what is going on.

We got the 107 mile EV range Leaf to replace my wife’s gas burner on a 3-year lease. Less than $9,000 after all incentives, credits, and rebates. No gasoline, oil changes, or any cost of maintenance except tire rotation every 7.5k miles. There will be many more choices and more tech and EV range for the $ in 3 years.

But as a primary car, the Leaf will not work for most people. Long distance travel is technically possible along some highways with DC fast charging, but with too many stops and careful planning to be enjoyable. So, many may be waiting for affordable 200+ mile EV range to make going the distance tolerable. Maybe that is a part of the answer as to lackluster sales of the Leaf.

 

what about the reason that 100miles just doesn't cut it for many - it's what many said for years ... & after all - the only company with a waiting list of 400,000 & requiring customers to fork over $1,000 are folks waiting on a plugin with a minimum of 200 miles ... whether they use it or not.
.

 

sure, but that fly's in the face of posts #583, 584 and 585.

 

Seems like folks want to have it both ways ... pointing out how the low mile plugin cars aren't selling so well ... but then still getting ramped up about the low mileage plugins with lower sales when they add just another 10 or 20 miles.
.

 

agreed. personally, i think hyundai should cancel the ionique bev and go right to the 200 miler. 100 miles just doesn't cut it for enough driving situations, especially in winter.

 

One difference is that there are more choices now. 80 miles was decent if you had to have an EV and there were no other choices, esp for 25k or so. Today the ev choices and coming choices are just too exciting to settle for 100 mi range.

 

I think all of you are looking to much from EV range perspective, a car is much more than EV range. Prime biggest upgrade from previous plug-in is ability to deliver 68 kW in pure EV mode (was it 36 kW in the old one?), that gives totally different experience to the driver. And when the charge goes out, you still get great Prius powertrain.

With subsidies depending on a country this could be even a cheaper buy than fully loaded Prius and IMO it looks much better, what is not to like here?

The ones that expect Model 3 at the same price point as Prime are living in a dream.

 

No, it is completely consistent.
Posts 583, 584 & 585 were responding to the question of why "anyone would buy".

Your question was why the Leaf isn't "selling well".

The Leaf is at the end of it's cycle. Many are waiting for the second gen electrics, starting with the Bolt in about 6 months.
The idea of a BEV is also still new to most people. I don't expect 200 mile BEVs to sell in Camry numbers the first year they are available.
People have to get comfortable with the idea of watching range and not needing to stop to fuel up as long as they plug in each evening.