Nissan turns over a new Leaf with more range

It should be a winner. 'Single-pedal driving' sums up a lot of people.

Electric cars with nowhere to charge, and electricity coming from fossil fuels..

Batteries with limited range and life..

And if you are like me and actually like cars, nothing of any interest for anyone but the very well off.

More range than before and a 'refill' being pennies (or small amounts of yen) rather than many dollars (or large amounts of yen). Pollution from the fossil fuels can be eliminated by wind, wave, or solar power rather than oil. Plus, almost no one drives 400 km a day everyday. Perfect for the average Junko.

Gas-engine cars generally get as much as 500 miles or 600 miles on a tank of gas.

Show me a car that can drive from Tokyo to Fukuoka on a single tank and take my money.

promises a range of about 400 kilometers in Japanese driving conditions or 150 miles in the U.S.

400 kilo,rs is about 240 miles so in the US the range is only 150, so why is there such big difference? its about a 100 miles, I am sure it rains in the US the same as in japan, they both have hills, traffic lights, I don't get it. is there an international standard on the power socket/plug that they use in all of these hybrid cars? because the last thing you wish to do is run out of charge on a main road, so if you call in at a service station to charge up, will they have the right socket/plug?? I think that some one in the UK has suggested that we can build into the road a WiFi charging whilst the car is waiting for the traffic lights to change, IE whilst your stationary and the car is above the charge pad in the road floor it will charge your car!

did they rush the design job or what? it looks hideous. it's some ceo said, "give me more edges, damnit, and now!" i'll pass and wait for the model 3.

@Brian I too found that confusing. Are 'Japanese driving conditions' more economical than in the US? Seems unlikely to me, lot's of stop-starting over here, just the kind of thing that drains a gas tank or a battery. They might be implying that American drivers are more lead-footed. Or they might just be lying to their Japanese customers about the potential range. As for the wifi charging thing, that would take an enormous amount of infrastructure I would think. Plus you might get cars on low battery reluctant to leave the lights - chaos!

promises a travel range of about 400 kilometers in Japanese driving conditions or 150 miles in the U.S., 

Japan driving conditions? What a misleading way to describe it. Actually the Leaf battery provides 150 miles of range under US EPA estimates and 400 km or 238 miles under the less conservative Japanese rating agency standards. We are talking here about the standards used to rate those things and Japan standards are actually quite sloppy if not misleading. I mean the huge difference in battery range is just ridiculous.

Now concerning this car, boy Japan car makers can't stop to make ugly cars. The design of this car is just ugly and totally outdated. Apparently its price will be similar to the current Leaf, which means it should start around $30,000.

The Tesla Model 3 will start at $35,000 and offer way better battery range (220 miles EPA), way better design and way better on board tech.

If you are serious about electric cars, you will be using better your money by investigating on a Tesla Model 3. This Leaf makes no sense.

Electric cars with nowhere to charge, and electricity coming from fossil fuels..Batteries with limited range and life.. not in Finland and Denmark most of their electricity if from renewable, Its been shown that the latest batteries will outlast the life of most electric vehicles about 10yrs. Even if a electric car is recharged by fossil fuel power stations, electric motors are around 90% efficient compared to the ICE which is at best 30~40%. Also electric vehicles have around 30% less components than ICE cars, meaning lower maintenance costs on top of the lower refuel/recharging costs. People just need to accept the fact that electric vehicles will soon challenge ICE cars in terms of sales, mileage and pricing.

It's really confusing having distances measured at times in metric and at times in "American." Since this is Japan, why don't you put the measurements in metric and let those who insist on being behind the rest of the planet work it out for themselves? In any case the US military are also familiar with metric.

Yeah and if I turn on the AC down here in Okinawa the charge will last for how long?

It's really confusing having distances measured at times in metric and at times in "American." 

This coming from someone who orders their beers in pints!

What's simply amazing is that they couldn't come up with a better slogan.

"NZ2011Today  04:29 pm JST

Electric cars with nowhere to charge, and electricity coming from fossil fuels.."

The point is pollution at the tailpipe.

Many deaths each year are caused by this. In particular in Europe which have problems with high numbers of diesels and their high NOx emissions.

(Tokyo kind of banned diesels over decade ago - although you can by them again now - but just don't trust the manufacturers claims. What were Mazda thinking getting into diesels recently - lack of exposure and knowledge in Japan's younger public recently because of the previous "ban" i guess)

It's not "Green House" CO2 that's the problem or the issue being solved by Electric, Hydrogen or Hybrid to an extent - Its local pollution.

(pollution and green house not being the same thing)

Really Amazing Car :)

It also comes with a new feature that brings the vehicle to a gradual stop when the accelerator is not being pressed, without needing to hit the brakes unless the car must stop quickly. HUH? "new feature"? Teslas have always had this feature, which is why they guaranty brakes for the life of the car.

Thanks and Regards

Teresa B. Schaefer

888naf

I agree Diesels are pretty terrible for local particulate pollution but petrol engines can be quite efficient and quite clean, but with cars getting heavier this is getting difficult.

Sure reducing local pollution is not a bad goal but as an overall environmental concern they are no better, possibly worse depending on how the batteries are sourced and disposed of and especially if the power plant supplying the power is fossil fueled and not near by because of all the loss in transmission.

Don't get me wrong I'm not against electric cars as such but they face a lot of issues before they can be adopted widely, especially somewhere like Japan. I travel to europe, and Amsterdam in particular, regularly and think its great the taxis are Teslas, perfect kind of usage, with charging stations available in many areas and free parking with chargers to encourage it.

I get a kick out of my Uber being a Model X time to time around the world, things like it will possibly in combination with some sort of fuel cell tech will be the future, Im just saying we aren't there in terms of battery tech, energy supply range and infrastructure.

In Tokyo, or any major Japanese city, you have multiple issues.

100v for a start..

Mansion carparks with no electric facilities and most other carparks with not electric vehicle facilities.

If you are a car enthusiast like myself, there are other issues.

Sporty electric cars are difficult as the batteries make them heavy, so while high end models maybe fast in a straight line the generally are not very good in the bends.

Range... no more driving holidays.

Anything that can be considered anything like a performance car is totally out of reach of "normal" people.

and sound...or lack there of, though I'm sure one day people will find a way to be excited about the noises of what ever performance electric cars end up sounding like.

I have very high standards for any vehicle. Must go at least 400 MILES using heat or air, be tough and comfortable for terrible American roads. Yappari, that means a pickup truck.

They might be implying that American drivers are more lead-footed

Or perhaps something to do with the average weight of a family of four. :-)

A friend and neighbor both had Leafs on lease. Thanks to tax credits, it was basically a free vehicle for them. That is why it was so popular in the USA.

Of course, I got the VIN from both and showed how to hack the vehicles thanks to poor network security by Nissan. My neighbor was shocked when I turned on the A/C and then the heater. https://www.troyhunt.com/controlling-vehicle-features-of-nissan/

Nissan pulled the APIs and I hope they put in some real security. OTOH, one of the hacks got 150 mile range, so hacking isn't all bad.

I can't see owning only an electric vehicle, but as a 2nd car, just for commuting these things can make sense. I'd rather drive a leaf than a Ford-Festiva.

I agree Diesels are pretty terrible for local particulate pollution 

Have you looked at the new clean diesels? I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Yubaru your right the euro 4 or 5 engines are very very clean burning indeed, the emissions are very good probably as good as petrol!

I will choose Hybrid over EV if I have to drive green car.