Is this an insight into the 2014 Nissan Leaf?

[Martytdi]

I just spotted this.
According to the rumor mill at AutoExrpess the 2014 Nissan Leaf will boast a whole lot more than the ability to recharge wirelessly: it will cost less , travel further and even be able to power your home.

Citing an anonymous source at Nissan, AutoExpress claims the 2014 Nissan Leaf will feature a bigger, more powerful battery pack capable of giving the car a much better range. Combined with other improvements in the car’s design, the anonymous source said the Leaf will become even more affordable with an impressive drop in sticker price for the 2014 model.

Sounds like good news. What to do? Every year the next model is much better and less expensive. Lease or buy? I think lease the vehicle and give it back to them.

 

[Stoaty]

According to the rumor mill at AutoExrpess...

Most likely this is an insight into the mind of the those starting or perpetuating this rumor.

Sounds like good news. What to do? Every year the next model is much better and less expensive. Lease or buy? I think lease the vehicle and give it back to them.

Maybe not much better, but at least somewhat better. Less expensive? We hope so, but time will tell. Leasing is probably a good idea unless the current Leaf will meet your needs for 10 years even with projected battery capacity loss. Glad I bought, but the current Leaf is a great match for my needs now and in the foreseeable future.

 

[mkjayakumar]

I just spotted this.

URL please..?

 

[garygid]

Probably just a rumor started by some folks who
want to kill off 2013 EV sales, in my opinion.

I suspect, if it were true, Nissan would NOT leak this
kind of information. And if false, not leak it either.

 

[TurboFroggy]

This story is a year old:
http://www.greencarreports.com/news...st-less-go-wireless-travel-further-be-smarter

 

[Nubo]

Well, an inductive pad would eliminate "plug stealing", as well as plug-sharing...

 

[garygid]

And, set the EV industry back 20 years by severely limiting
the available places to charge. Many MILLIONS of sockets,
down to hundreds or thousands of charging "humps".

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

it would be great if this were true, Nissan really needs a decent jump in range to keep interest. the larger the battery, the less relevant a public charging infrastructure will be and given how slow the network is evolving, particularly the fast charging network, it seems more viable at this point for manufacturers to focus on increasing range.

 

[LEAFfan]

I don't believe these changes will happen for the 2014, but most likely for the 2015.

 

[mkjayakumar]

Inductive charging? What problem is this supposed to solve ? I understand it looks jazzy, space age tech and all that, but this is a solution looking for a problem.

Instead they should devote their energies on increasing the range and having more fast chargers.

 

[EVDRIVER]

I can see all these things happening, I believe Nissan had already partnered with someone for inductive charging some time ago and the 2014 model year is more likely for any significant pack changes. Nissan can still shed another 100 lbs off the car which could even allow 275 lbs of new batteries at the same weight of the 2011, etc. A grid tied option is not unreasonable, in all the 2103 only adds features the should have had before but were too busy rushing to slap the LEAF together. 2014 is likely the year to see more significant improvements. If I were looking to upgrade a LEAF no way would I do a 2013, the improvements are simply not significant enough to justify the cost.

 

[KJD]

Inductive charging? What problem is this supposed to solve ? I understand it looks jazzy, space age tech and all that, but this is a solution looking for a problem.
Instead they should devote their energies on increasing the range and having more fast chargers.

I agree with you 100%. It is so easy to plug the car in, I would much rather do that than waste 15% of my electricity using an inductive charging system.
Increasing range is far and away more of a priority for me.

 

[evnow]

Inductive charging? What problem is this supposed to solve ? I understand it looks jazzy, space age tech and all that, but this is a solution looking for a problem.
Instead they should devote their energies on increasing the range and having more fast chargers.

I agree with you 100%. It is so easy to plug the car in, I would much rather do that than waste 15% of my electricity using an inductive charging system.
Increasing range is far and away more of a priority for me.

Vandlism/cable stealing - for public chargers. That is one problem, inductive charging can solve.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Vandalism/cable stealing - for public chargers. That is one problem, inductive charging can solve.

Menenke style plugs largely solves that (except while you're actually charging).

 

[TEG]

Menenke style plugs largely solves that (except while you're actually charging).

BYOC (Bring Your Own Cable)

 

[LEAFfan]

I can see all these things happening, I believe Nissan had already partnered with someone for inductive charging some time ago and the 2014 model year is more likely for any significant pack changes. Nissan can still shed another 100 lbs off the car which could even allow 275 lbs of new batteries at the same weight of the 2011, etc. A grid tied option is not unreasonable, in all the 2103 only adds features the should have had before but were too busy rushing to slap the LEAF together. 2014 is likely the year to see more significant improvements. If I were looking to upgrade a LEAF no way would I do a 2013, the improvements are simply not significant enough to justify the cost.

I respectfully disagree. There were very small improvements from the 2011 to the 2012. There are many improvements to the 2013 so there will only be small improvement to the 2014. The 2015 will have major improvements including a new and better battery pack chemistry.

 

[TomT]

And I have to disagree. The improvements to the 2013 are largely cosmetic and/or inconsequential. The areas where there need to be big EV improvements, such as in the batteries, didn't happen so I expect that we will see that in 2014 or 2015...

I respectfully disagree. There were very small improvements from the 2011 to the 2012. There are many improvements to the 2013 so there will only be small improvement to the 2014. The 2015 will have major improvements including a new and better battery pack chemistry.

 

[GRA]

And I have to disagree. The improvements to the 2013 are largely cosmetic and/or inconsequential. The areas where there need to be big EV improvements, such as in the batteries, didn't happen so I expect that we will see that in 2014 or 2015...

I respectfully disagree. There were very small improvements from the 2011 to the 2012. There are many improvements to the 2013 so there will only be small improvement to the 2014. The 2015 will have major improvements including a new and better battery pack chemistry.

I lean towards LEAFfan's POV. The 2013 changes are a good mid-life update, nothing individually major but taken altogether make a better car. Just not enough better in the areas that really matter to the mainstream, i.e. significant improvements in range/price. That will almost certainly have to wait until major re-design in 2015, which will be a normal 4 year life-cycle. I expect any changes in 2014 will be very minor and probably just cosmetic (colors/interior trims etc.), unless Nissan can't give the cars away owing to perceived battery and customer relation problems.

Re inductive charging, aside from the security aspects for public charging (didn't someone post recently about some EVSEs that had had their cables swiped?), inductive charging adds convenience and utility. Early adopters here make a big deal about not having to go to the gas station, something that billions of people do regularly, but claim that plugging and unplugging the car daily doesn't bother them. Well, if not having to get gas is a big convenience, then not having to plug and unplug every day is another one - why would you want to spend the time if you didn't need to?

Inductive charging also eliminates any problems with which side or where the charge port should go based on national differences depending on which side cars drive and park, whether people drive forward or back into their garages, etc. It also eliminates the wear and tear on connectors which may lead to safety or reliability issues.

The downsides are that it may be considerably less efficient, which will be an issue affecting nationwide energy usage, and it's also a lot more expensive to install and maintain in public areas (I assume home chargers will use a movable floor pad and a cord). Whether there are any potential health or RFI issues, I have no idea.

 

[camasleaf]

I would rather get this instead of inductive charging:

http://www.dan-dare.org/Dan%20Saber/StarWarsR2-D2Wallpaper800.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just imagine what else ingineer can make it do :lol: .

 

[mkjayakumar]

Screw the inductive charging and every other so call upgrade. Give me more range. Even a 15 mile solid highway range increase (at 65 mph) is way better than anything what they did for 2103. Atleast for me.

If you look at it, there are a good number of folks that have a commute of 60+ miles, and they can't do that commute in the cold regions in winter and can't be done in Texas/AZ after year 2.

And while you are at it, control the damn degradation.