New Leaf Videos

[lne937s]

These videos were recently posted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBpOhzd0g50&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kriyQrcIAnM&feature=channel

These two are posted from the ad agency that put the first two videos together:
http://www.youtube.com/user/studio808ad#p/u/1/ywqQTw97Dtc
http://www.youtube.com/user/studio808ad#p/u/3/yd0Ml8fcgcM

 

[LEAFer]

Thanks for those links.

I like that new emphasis (with pause and special intonation) that they inserted ... "no-gas". Obviously a reference to the Volt.

 

[EVDRIVER]

Both the zero emissions and the distance per dollar are misleading and set them up for criticism. The LEAF is not a 0 emissions vehicle unless powered by alternative energy and peoples electric rates vary dramatically. The electrical analogy is more subjective and can be made on cost to cost for gas but the zero emissions is really wrong and ignores the emissions from producing the electricity.

 

[DarkStar]

Both the zero emissions and the distance per dollar are misleading and set them up for criticism. The LEAF is not a 0 emissions vehicle unless powered by alternative energy and peoples electric rates vary dramatically. The electrical analogy is more subjective and can be made on cost to cost for gas but the zero emissions is really wrong and ignores the emissions from producing the electricity.

Well, my electricity is created from 100% renewable resources, however my electric rates don't vary dramatically... or at all... I'm not buying the Leaf though to have a "0 emissions vehicle", I'm buying it because it's cheaper than a gas car and will save us a bunch of money over its lifetime. More importantly though, I really like cool toys and this would have to be at the top of my list!

 

[garygid]

Nissan carefully says "zero TAILPIPE emissions" in most cases, though not on the car decal itself.

Indeed the car itself is (very, very nearly) zero emissions, even if the manufacturing of it, or its e-fuel, is not emission-free. Looked at that way, a spoon or fork is not "zero emission" either.

Yes, using 11¢ per kWh is misleading, but at least they did specify what cost they were using, just like the EPA stickers and appliance "yearly cost" stickers are similarly misleading.

Most people realize that gas costs are different at different service stations.

The cost of e-fuel at home varies widely, and is likely to vary even more out in public. People who care about costs will notice, and learn.

 

[johnr]

Both the zero emissions and the distance per dollar are misleading and set them up for criticism. The LEAF is not a 0 emissions vehicle unless powered by alternative energy and peoples electric rates vary dramatically. The electrical analogy is more subjective and can be made on cost to cost for gas but the zero emissions is really wrong and ignores the emissions from producing the electricity.

Nissan has always been VERY careful to say "zero tailpipe emissions". However I would have absolutely no problem if they chose to say zero emissions period. The car puts out no emissions, and that's all they can reasonably be expected to be responsible for. They don't dictate where you get your electricity, that's entirely your choice. It bugs me that several prominent groups (even some environmental groups) want power plant emissions factored into electric car emissions, because electric cars won't always be getting their electricity from a specific power plant. They're mobile and will be getting their electricity from various sources depending where they're charging, and some people will install solar panels on their home recharging their cars with true zero emissions renewable energy.

 

[LakeLeaf]

These videos were recently posted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBpOhzd0g50&feature=channel

This is a classic example of marketing not running their ads past engineering - even though the ad is trying to describe an engineering concept.

Decibel's are a logarithmic scale, not a linear scale. They attempt to show a graphical representation between the noise levels of the various entities in the ad, but show this as if they are linearly related rather then logarithmically related. The "quietness" of the Leaf is significantly more dramatic then what is depicted in this ad.

 

[tps]

Decibel's are a logarithmic scale, not a linear scale. They attempt to show a graphical representation between the noise levels of the various entities in the ad, but show this as if they are linearly related rather then logarithmically related. The "quietness" of the Leaf is significantly more dramatic then what is depicted in this ad.

IMHO they did the right thing in their ad. The dB scale should be displayed linearly (that is, displayed on "linear" graph paper, not "log" graph paper), because the dB measurement already has the logarithmic relationship built into it. If they chose instead to expess the audio level as a power ratio, then they would have needed a logarithmic scale, since a power ratio does not have the logarithmic relationship built in. Excepting the primitive VU meter, almost all modern audio hardware and software shows level indicators with a linear scale calibrated in dB. Years ago in my former career, I spent 15 years as a broadcast and audio engineer, so I've been through these issues a few times...

The whole point of using a dB scale rather than a power ratio scale to express loudness is that our hearing is roughly logarithmic, so the dB scale is a much better fit to perceived loudness than power ratios.

BTW - an often ignored side issue is that the actual unit of measure is the bel, named after Alexander Graham Bell; a decibel is 1/10 of a bel.

 

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

Nissan carefully says "zero TAILPIPE emissions" in most cases, though not on the car decal itself.

Indeed the car itself is (very, very nearly) zero emissions, even if the manufacturing of it, or its e-fuel, is not emission-free. Looked at that way, a spoon or fork is not "zero emission" either...,<snip>

For those of us in Washington and Oregon, we will be running on electricity that is primarily from hydro and wind. I'm still finding it very hard to quibble with the "zero emission" tagline regardless of energy source though.

The ads are about the vehicle and not about the energy production. Do ICE vehicles have to take into account the CO2 emitted at refineries in the making of gasoline and oil or the gas and oil used to transport it to a gas station? Just seems to me to be an odd and unfair criticism.