Poll : Nissan Weighs Three Choices for Next Electric Car

Not that the point of this thread was to collect write in candidates, but I'll suggest something along the lines of a small minivan:



Perfect for soccer moms with seating for 6, can be converted to large cargo capacity, lots of underfloor space for batteries.

LTLFTcomposite said:

Not that the point of this thread was to collect write in candidates, but I'll suggest something along the lines of a small minivan:

Perfect for soccer moms with seating for 6, can be converted to large cargo capacity, lots of underfloor space for batteries.

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+1000000

evnow said:

http://www.egmcartech.com/2011/12/13/report-nissan-debating-on-what-its-4th-ev-model-should-be/

Hmmm. Personally I won't buy a car with lesser range than Leaf. That would force us to use the ICE even within Seattle area.

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I definitely would. That's exactly what I'm in the market for right now. I have an ICE SUV for the long trips, we have the LEAF for one of our commuter cars and our primary in-town weekend car, I need another car for the other commuter. For the summer time, that's the Xebra for me, but during the winter it's too bloody cold. Plus, it's just not a safe or reliable vehicle, and can't go on the freeways. So, any time that I need to go on the freeways or the weather is too cold/wet, I take the ICE.

I'd love to replace my Xebra with a small EV. Something with a back seat (carseat for the kid), has some safety features that the Xebra is lacking (airbags, crumple zones, basically not a motorcycle), can go on the freeway, and has a heater. Give me a reliable range of 20 miles and a price UNDER 20k, and I'll take it.

A LEAF for my wife, a townpod-type-thing for my commuter, and my long-haul ICE is a good combination.

An alternative (and probably best solution for me) would be to swap my ICE SUV for a plug-in hybrid SUV, but it would have to have some towing capacity in order to make it viable, and I just don't see that happening in a plug-in hybrid for several more years. Quite frankly, I think that kind of vehicle would be enormously popular in the US, as long as it got about 20 miles of pure EV range before going into hybrid mode (when not towing, obviously).

blorg said:

I'd love to replace my Xebra with a small EV. Something with a back seat (carseat for the kid), has some safety features that the Xebra is lacking (airbags, crumple zones, basically not a motorcycle), can go on the freeway, and has a heater. Give me a reliable range of 20 miles and a price UNDER 20k, and I'll take it.

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You're a good candidate for a conversion. Take a good condition small used car and do a conversion, with only 20 miles of range needed you wouldn't even need lithium, though you might as well use them for a longer lasting better performing pack.
I think Wayne will do one for $12K, plus the vehicle: http://www.ev-blue.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

LTLFTcomposite said:

Not that the point of this thread was to collect write in candidates, but I'll suggest something along the lines of a small minivan:

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Too close to a LEAF at this point, Nissan needs something really different in the EV lineup.

blorg said:

I'd love to replace my Xebra with a small EV. Something with a back seat (carseat for the kid), has some safety features that the Xebra is lacking (airbags, crumple zones, basically not a motorcycle), can go on the freeway, and has a heater. Give me a reliable range of 20 miles and a price UNDER 20k, and I'll take it.

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Mitsubishi i comes quite close. A little over 22K after tax credits.

evnow said:

blorg said:

I'd love to replace my Xebra with a small EV. Something with a back seat (carseat for the kid), has some safety features that the Xebra is lacking (airbags, crumple zones, basically not a motorcycle), can go on the freeway, and has a heater. Give me a reliable range of 20 miles and a price UNDER 20k, and I'll take it.

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Mitsubishi i comes quite close. A little over 22K after tax credits.

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Yes, close, but not quite there. If I could drop the range in half and reduce the price down to $15k after tax credits, I'd go for it. As it sits, I'll probably keep my current combination until prices drop and availability increases. I've been looking at conversions as well, but paying $15k-$20k and still having an old used car doesn't sound great either.

LTLFTcomposite said:

Not that the point of this thread was to collect write in candidates, but I'll suggest something along the lines of a small minivan:

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Nice idea but this will have to wait for better batteries than even what we'll see in the next gen NMCs.

SanDust said:

LTLFTcomposite said:

Not that the point of this thread was to collect write in candidates, but I'll suggest something along the lines of a small minivan:

Click to expand...

Nice idea but this will have to wait for better batteries than even what we'll see in the next gen NMCs.

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Do you really think so? There was one of these parked at work a couple spaces over from my leaf and I was struck by how close they were in size.

Looking at the Mazda specs, comparing the Mazda 5 to the Mazda 3 5-door that the Leaf is often compared to, the M3 is 155hp and the M5 is 157hp. Hard to imagine that other 2 hp makes that much difference.

Other stat comparisons (M3/M5/Leaf)
length: 177.4/180.5/175
width: 69.1/68.9/69.7
height: 57.9/63.6/61
wheelbase: 103.9/108.5/106.3

Interesting that the M3 is actually a hair wider than the M5.

The Mazda5 is a bit of a strange duck in the US auto market but apparently it is attracting some fans.

http://www.edmunds.com/mazda/mazda5/2012/road-test.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

LTLFTcomposite said:

Do you really think so? There was one of these parked at work a couple spaces over from my leaf and I was struck by how close they were in size.

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That was rather my point, a vehicle almost just like the LEAF makes no sense at this time.

Will be curious to see how the 2012 Ford C-Max Energi (plug-in hybrid) compares size-wise to the Mazda5; we already know that it will carry one less person (5 passenger instead of 6 in M5) but what it will have that the a pure EV small minivan/SUV/crossover will not have (at least currently) is better range -- some are saying as much as 500 miles combined range but we'll see. I happen to own an '06 Mazda3 GT 5-door and can attest to the interior room when used with the back seats down -- remember though that the Mazda5 is a fair amount taller than the Mazda3, has the sliding doors and I believe lower load floor so really maximizes its interior space. When I had my Mazda3 in for its last service, I saw the latest model pictured earlier in this thread --- seems much larger than a Mazda3 in person but again a fair amount taller; didn't care for the sculpted styling but Mazda is starting to already move away from that with their new CX-5 coming out very soon; this new model will have their new engine technology which is already now offered on the newest Mazda3's that significantly improve the mileage rating w/o hybrid technology:

blorg said:

Yes, close, but not quite there. If I could drop the range in half and reduce the price down to $15k after tax credits, I'd go for it. As it sits, I'll probably keep my current combination until prices drop and availability increases. I've been looking at conversions as well, but paying $15k-$20k and still having an old used car doesn't sound great either.

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Mitsubishi will offer a cheaper version of the iMiev in Japan with only a 10.5kwh pack, using the Toshiba SCib cells.. if it was offered here it would come in at your budget.. perhaps 50 mile range since its a lighter and smaller car. I would like to see that model offered in the US but you know lots of people will complain about the range, the press would not be good.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/07/imiev-20110706.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

On the Ford side, they just started production of the Focus BEV today, and even bigger news, they will make the electric CVT transmissions in the US (for the Energy as well), previously they imported them from Japan. These are similar to what the Prius uses.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/focus-20111214.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

redLEAF said:

Will be curious to see how the 2012 Ford C-Max Energi (plug-in hybrid) compares size-wise to the Mazda5;

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I've Energi in my dimension comparison sticky. Energi is a good 7" shorter than M5.

Between M3 & M5 - the big difference would be weight & aero. Think of Prius vs Prius v. That would kill the range if they use the same battery. So, to have the same range, they would need to add 20% or so more battery, which makes the weight even worse. Ofcourse, increases the cost too.

Other stat comparisons (M3/M5/Leaf/Energi)
length: 177.4/180.5/175/173.6
width: 69.1/68.9/69.7/71.9
height: 57.9/63.6/61/63.7
wheelbase: 103.9/108.5/106.3/104
Weight:2969/3457/3366/-
Passenger Volume:94/97.70/90/-
Cargo Volume:17/44.40/23/-

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Nice chart EVNow.

I am still stuck on the order of Nissan EV's. I keep hearing Nissan talk about a city car but is Nissan NOT counting the Infinity EV in this discussion? I am beginning to think they are not. If so, and the OP of this thread is discussion of the 4th Nissan EV, then we have skipped across the third electric model entirely. My guess is that Nissan approved a "city car" EV (without need for public debate) awhile ago. IMHO this low key internal decision is very wise because this car will be percieved as less than a LEAF or a step backwards. It is also very smart because the North America market is fickle and such a car will certainly be met with a thunderous chorus of... "meh".

I would bet the "next" Nissan EV will be announced very soon after the city model and be of an extremely exciting and viceral nature. The anti "meh" if you will.

TRONZ said:

I am still stuck on the order of Nissan EV's. I keep hearing Nissan talk about a city car but is Nissan NOT counting the Infinity EV in this discussion? I am beginning to think they are not.

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The 3 EVs for production are
- Leaf
- Infiniti EV
- NV200 Cargo van EV



The 4th EV to be picked up is what we are talking about.

JRP3 said:

LTLFTcomposite said:

Do you really think so? There was one of these parked at work a couple spaces over from my leaf and I was struck by how close they were in size.

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That was rather my point, a vehicle almost just like the LEAF makes no sense at this time.

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But functionally it's quite different from the LEAF. Three row seating provides comfortable accommodations for six people (at least it does in a minivan, usually not so much in an SUV) and seven or even eight in a pinch, whereas the LEAF and a million other things like it provides comfort for four and five in a pinch. I would also argue that passengers #3 and #4 will be more comfortable in a minivan than they will be in the back seat of the LEAF, or other car or crossover SUV-type thing. When you fold down or remove the rear seat in a minivan you have a large cargo space, certainly would not be quite as large in a mini-minivan like the mazda 5, but still good size, much larger than the Leaf, and you still have seating for four or five.

LTLFTcomposite said:

When you fold down or remove the rear seat in a minivan you have a large cargo space, certainly would not be quite as large in a mini-minivan like the mazda 5, but still good size, much larger than the Leaf, and you still have seating for four or five.

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May be they should re-configure NV200 as a mini-van for retail sales, with multiple battery options.

evnow said:

May be they should re-configure NV200 as a mini-van for retail sales, with multiple battery options.

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Bingo!.. add a few seats and windows and you have your family minivan.

I would think a city car would never sell well in the US, but now we have the Fiat 500 and the Mini so perhaps there is a demand. It must be scary taking a city car on the hwy..

Two seater sport cars have never done well, except the 240Z back in the early 70s.. probably because it was cheap.

Herm said:

evnow said:

May be they should re-configure NV200 as a mini-van for retail sales, with multiple battery options.

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Bingo!.. add a few seats and windows and you have your family minivan.

I would think a city car would never sell well in the US, but now we have the Fiat 500 and the Mini so perhaps there is a demand. It must be scary taking a city car on the hwy..

Two seater sport cars have never done well, except the 240Z back in the early 70s.. probably because it was cheap.

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The NV200 doesn't really look like a state of the art minivan; it appears to be more of a "work truck" type van.

You know who could potentially benefit greatly from the NV200 being available are those who are differently-abled**. Those folks must really hate gas stations. A "pull in over it" inductive charger would be an even bigger plus. There may also be some correlation with that segment of the population being less inclined to travel long distances.

** previously referred to as "handicapped"