johnrhansen said:
I think a detachable extension battery would be a good idea. The battery in my car suits me just fine except for once in a while. When that day comes I could go to the Nissan dealer or the car rental place, rent the extra battery and install it (It's built for quick installation). When I finish my trip I can turn it back in. There's no point in me owning a 8000 dollar battery and have it degrade with each passing day if I don't need the capacity much of the time.
See, the problem as far as the general public see it is, they want the same in a car as they have now, that is, long range and quick refuel time.
Having to go somewhere to pick up a battery and drop it back just won't work with most people.
Despite most people not driving more than 80 miles a day and less means nothing to average Joe, this have been proved now.
The Leaf is not the most expensive car by E.U standards, and still fails to sell in large numbers. It's all to do with the range and recharge times.
A 48 kwh battery would be really cool and should change the minds of many people to have an ev range of 120 winter miles, with a heated battery that could easily be 160 miles.
Now recharging that needs to be quick too. People want convenience. For many people 60 mile winter range and 30 mins depending on battery temps is just laughable.
A work charging infrastructure where only those who travel far enough are allowed to charge, will never happen, but it would greatly cut the cost of installing many more charge points than are needed.
Nissan may think the range of the leaf is suitable for most people, well the public have proved Nissan wrong. They must now listen to what people want.