Nissan LEAF 100% electric car

[Henry W]

My wife and I tried out the Nissan LEAF. I will write later today about the experiance of going through the program Nissan set up. And of course a write up about our test drive.

Henry

[Shipo]

Nice Henry, your 1000 "Post" @ 100% electric power.....waiting on your review...

[slowspeed]

Ya
thay had it in Phoenix for a bit
Soo i asked the guy if I could drive around the lot
Had good pickup was NOOO sound,And range is good
Cost of batterys is the key?
Can I hook up my trailer with the  lister genny in the back and pull it about?

[Henry W]

The cost of the battery bank is about $18,000.00.

Henry

[cgwymp]

Can I hook up my trailer with the  lister genny in the back and pull it about?

That would make it a hybrid.....  ;-)

[mike90045]

Can I hook up my trailer with the  lister genny in the back and pull it about?

They call that the "Range Extender".

[veggie]

Hey Henry.....
At post number 1000 you get a coke and a bag of chips !
Bob will be sending you a coupon in the mail.
Congrats (I'm not far behind you). Mmmmmmmmmmm I can hardly wait.

cheers,
veggie

[Henry W]

Thanks guys,

The test drive:

I was surprised on the amount of room and comfort the LEAF had. The dash was laid out very well and I could see everything fine. The car was very quiet. It is so quiet that they had to install noise producing equipment on the car so people and animals will hear somthing coming.

Pickup:
I was surprised how much getup and go it had. Very impressive I must say. The car is capable of 90 mph. Fast enough.

Stearing and handling:
Steering was a little light for my taste. It was not to bad though. I feel if you get on back roads and start putting it in some serious curves at a high rate of speed you could get into some trouble by over compensating. Driving normaly it had a nice neutral steer feeling. At higher speeds I felt it had slight over steer for most people and this is where the light steering wheel feel can get people in trouble. Suspension was ok, But for my taste I like somthing firm anyways. Driving normaly it took the bumps and dips very well. Overall it had a pretty good feel to it.

Breaking:
The brakes seemed ok, They had a good feel to them. I realy did not spend enough time in it to see how they really performed.

Road noise:
Very quiet.

Overall feelings about it:
I feel it is a pretty nice car to commute to work and to the stores. I feel it would be a little small for trips. I do not feel comfortable at this time with the amount of charging stations available to the public. Still I feel it would suit some people very well. I am not ready for it and would wait to see what happens in the next few years before I would ever consider buying one.

Price: Over $33,000.00

I still feel some auto manufacture should make a diesel hybrid. I would look at one of those if they can get the price down.

Henry

[BioHazard]

Price: Over $33,000.00

If I was gonna do the electric car thing, I'd get:
1970-something Corvette - $3-6000
Biggest electric motor I could find - $3500
Lead acid battery bank: 96v Costco "deep cycle" batteries x 16 - $1200 (replace every 2-3 years)

Less than 10 grand and you don't look like such a nerd...

I'm ashamed of what the car makers have to offer if I can do that. Double the cost and I can use some seriously expensive fancy lightweight batteries.

And I'd totally have a diesel powered trailer mounted generator for recharging.



That doesn't seem like such a bad idea really...

[Henry W]

Just get a pickup and convert it to electric than put the generator in the back. Why pull a trailer.

Henry

[AdeV]

That doesn't seem like such a bad idea really...

As they say... how hard can it be? unfortunately, all 4 videos below are mirror imaged, for some bizzare reason, but I think the electric car still shines through...:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVcp2vJXHCE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQszZ09F4Do
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyQ-C4jcJPg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWnaO_ov_gU

It got road tested...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfNfwNWWphI

[Randybee1]

You might want to consider taking a gauss meter with you and measuring the electro magenetic field. I did that with a Prius and with a Saturn hybrid and they both went thru the roof for readings, way above what the EPA says is safe. There is debate on whether electromagnetic radiation is harmful or not. Lots of evidence points to it causing cancers, particularly leukemia (if I remember right).. so.. buyer beware is what I guess I'm saying.

Randy B

[BioHazard]

As they say... how hard can it be?

Honestly, the biggest issue for me is that the electric vehicle would always have to be my "second" vehicle, because I need something with good hauling capacity before I need an electric car. The savings in gas for me would be mostly eaten up by the insurance and registration cost of the second vehicle. I don't drive a whole lot though...

I wonder what the insurance company would have to say....(you're trying to insure a WHAT?) Last time I got new insurance they even wanted to know if my truck had any kind of onboard 120v system which I can only guess increases insurance cost. They don't need to know about my inverter. 

[Henry W]

Don't let them know about an 120 volt engine block heater.

Henry

[AdeV]

Don't let them know about an 120 volt engine block heater.

Erm... I would if I were you... worst case scenario: your 120v block heater goes faulty, catches fire, and burns your vehicle to the ground, taking your garage & house with it.

As soon as the insurance company discovers the remnants of the 120v heater (and they will...), bang goes your insurance. No home, no car, no money. Nada zilch zip.

Insurers are, almost without exception, evil scum of the earth and eye-wateringly expensive... but not as bad as the alternative.


Just MHO.