Posted on 02/14/2011 8:28:45 AM PST by Responsibility2nd
If work is 30 minutes away or less - an electric car would make sense. Any longer than that, forget it.
Its not ready for long range, real world driving.
ML/NJ
I have two F150s (300 6 cyl) which don’t get terrible gas mileage.
When I go to the upper peninsula I get out in the sticks miles from anywhere. A leaf isn’t going to get me there and if it did it wouldn’t get me home.
Article reminds me of something Jay Leno said on a recent episode of NOVA...”Electric cars are like sex. Everybody lies.” (this part I’ll paraphrase) “They all tell you, ‘100 miles!’ but 43 miles later, I’m stranded.”
What message do you think it gets across?
The new xB...yeah, I can’t figure why they grew it so much when it was so popular as a small car. Seems like you might as well get a Pilot or Element or CR-V or RAV4 now.
The Nissan CVT takes some getting used to. I’ve rented two cars with it (that Cube and a Sentra with the same 1.8L powertrain) and what I found is that if you just lightly give it throttle off the line, it hits a dead spot about 20 mph when the tranny seems to come out of “low” and into its normal variable range. If you don’t mind annoying the people behind you, you can featherfoot it and get amazing economy around town. If you need actual acceleration, just step down on it and it does surprisingly well.
The other thing I learned with that CVT is that you *never* take the overdrive off at highway speed. On most autos, if you pop off the O/D, it’s in third gear. On that CVT, if you do it, it might as well be in SECOND. I did it once for giggles on the freeway at about 60 mph and was rather surprised to suddenly be howling along at almost 5000 rpm.
The other weird thing about the Cube aside from the looks and CVT is the steering. It’s got electric power steering, not hydraulic. Around town, it’s fantastic...perfect feel, perfect weight, turns on a dime, never kicks back, no squealing power steering pumps or grinding when you get to a lock. On the highway, it gets a bit odd, like you’re turning a force-feedback game controller, because you don’t get as much feedback from the road. It only took a few miles to get used to, but it was definitely a different feel than normal hydraulic power steering.
}:-)4
And, not just a little bit, like say an FM clock radio. I bet the charging system draws some serious amperage.
“And how long is it going to be that your office lets you sponge free electricity off of them? When it is one employee they may look the other way. But if you had a bunch of greenies ripping off your electricity the plug is going to get pulled.”
Let’s see. How will that work out?
Hmmmm. Perhaps a federal law requiring all employers . . . . You know it’s coming.
So the steering is literally “drive by wire”?
That is kinda scary.
That includes you, ZerO.
I should have asked for clarification on the steering of the cube. Is it electric assist, or pure electric “drive by wire”?
We live 22 miles from town. No, thanks...
It’s not really “drive by wire,” it’s just electrically assisted instead of hydraulically:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_steering#Electric_systems
A lot of cars are using it now, mostly small ones but I’ve seen where Chevy has a couple of full-size Silverado proof-of-concept test vehicles with electric power steering. I like the concept, it seems like there’s less stuff to go wrong and less parasitic losses on the engine with no hydraulic pump to drive.
}:-)4
http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/faq/list/charging#/leaf-electric-car/faq/list/charging
A FAQ on charging. $2.71 and it takes 20 hours to charge? ??
As a comparison, I have a diesel pickup and it costs $1.00 to plug the block heater in for 14 hours or so overnight. I’ve never done this math, I have just deduced it from actual bills.
My quotes in Post #44 are a little off. Here is that episode of NOVA.
http://video.pbs.org/video/1768954299/
The Leno segment starts at the 4:30 mark and goes for about 4 minutes.
Mike
Ah, the inquisitive, scientific mind of a journalist.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.