Nissan Leaf a comfortable, fun car to drive (For 50 Miles - Then it Dies!)

San Antonio Express News ^ | 02/13/2011 | G. Chambers Williams III

[Richard Kimball]

When my tester was almost out of juice, the dash meter showed it would take 20 hours to reach full charge at 110 volts, or eight hours at 220 volts

We're talking about 8 hours at 220 volts to take a vehicle 50 miles, and that doesn't include the fact that he sponged off of his employer 8 hours at 110 volts. I'm extremely curious as to what the actual cost of driving this vehicle will be.

[stompk]

Wait until there are four employees driving Leafs to work and only one outlet available for recharging.

wait until one of them unplugs another and then someone realizes at 5pm that they can't get home !

[from occupied ga]

800 rwhp

that implies 1100 - 1200 at the flywheel from 348 cui or somewhere around 3.5 hp/cui . How?

[OldMissileer]

commercial 440-volt fast chargers, to be installed at places such as Cracker Barrel, Walmart, Costco and convenience stores, to top the battery off in about 30 minutes.

Wonder how much this "quick charge" shortens the battery life?

I wonder how much all the prices will go up so the businesses can recoup the costs of the chargers and the extra energy they will pay for?

[Graneros]

My thoughts exactly. Can you imagine a whole parking lot of cars charging? Can’t be cheap. 8 hours a day per car is a lot of juice. Most places keep their outside AC and water faucets locked up now a days. A lot folks have no idea how many people are on the lookout for these “free” outlets of power.

[N. Theknow]

When my tester was almost out of juice, the dash meter showed it would take 20 hours to reach full charge at 110 volts, or eight hours at 220 volts.

So, recharging with 110 volts would be like taking 20 hours to pump 5 gallons of gas.

[editor-surveyor]

Yet another “solution” to a non-existant problem.

[Vaduz]

What I like about a car like that a man can merge anytime he wants,ditches full of compacts.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “I wonder how his employer feels about him using their electricity to charge his car?” <<

.
I suspect that his “employer” is his publisher.

[flat]

If the stranded driver is in luck, a home or a charging station is within 18 miles, because that’s the driving distance the charge will typically allow.

[Dead Corpse]

Someone will lose gallons of blood before I move any closer to Minneapolis than I currently am.

It isn't that I hate big cities, I just hate living next to them.

[Col Freeper]

You did and it was an excellent analogy, you don’t have to defend it to some nit picker.

+1

+2

[infowarrior]

I wonder how his employer feels about him using their electricity to charge his car?

Very good question... Yet another "subsidy", it appears...

the infowarrior

[reagan_fanatic]

How about freezing rain with no defrosters? You can either see or actually get home.

Not only that, but what about hills? Engines require more power to get you up and over them, so you can imagine what that does to the remaining capacity of a battery bank.

[SeeSac]

but anyone who uses rechargeable batteries knows they do not last.

The battery in my phone is almost five years old and still going strong.

The battery in my camera is three years old.

[SeeSac]

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.

Some Corvettes and Mustangs will not allow you into 2nd or 3rd on upshifts unless you put your foot into it hard. Of course, a 'tuner' or properly located resistor will defeat this.

[Reeses]

that plume looks like water vapor, to me.

Water vapor is invisible. Those are man-made clouds with net global cooling properties. Rainfall will be measurably higher 20 miles downwind of a power plant.

[stylin19a]

Conclusion: The Leaf isn't for everanyone

[ArrogantBustard]

Water vapor is invisible.

Fine ... they're plumes of condensed water vapor.

Rainfall will be measurably higher 20 miles downwind of a power plant.

Show me.

[mmanager]

Forged 402 with an 8 rib supercharger (15#’s of boost), Trickflow heads, Fast 92 intake, methanol injection, 80# injectors and headers. 237/249 114+2, 622-.628 lift cam.