The end of the LEAF

Toby said:

It's not just Nissan displaying a lack of interest in EVs. Toyota, Honda and Subaru are late to the table. I wonder why. Is it the high cost of materials? Having to buy batteries from Korea or China?

Click to expand...

Maybe due to many workers and management being in Japan and having observed poor BEV sales there (https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=627075#p627075) despite having a ton of CHAdeMO? https://www.chademo.com/globalcounts2022_h1 says there are 7800 CHAdeMO chargers in Japan, which is ~90% the size of California in land area. If I did my math right, BEV sales in Japan only accounted for under 0.5% of new vehicle sales there.

Toyota did have gen 1 Rav4 EV and Tesla-powered gen 2 (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_RAV4_EV). But, both were California compliance cars. Honda also had https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_EV_Plus and Fit EV (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/all-electric-2013-honda-fit-ev-begins-leasing-july-20-in-california-and-oregon-160832275.html) along w/Clarity BEV (now dead). Fit EV and (IIRC) Clarity BEV were lease only and also CA compliance cars.

Toyota, Lexus and Honda do have other BEVs outside the US like https://www.lexus.eu/car-models/ux-300e/ and https://www.honda.co.uk/cars/new/honda-e/overview.html.

Subaru AFAIK isn't a particularly large automaker.

It doesn't matter all that much to me: I kept my 1978 Datsun 510 ("Arabella," after the yellow Model A Ford from Nanny and the Professor) for 20 years, until she gave her metallic little life for me. And I kept the 1998 Toyota Camry that replaced her for another 20 years, until it was a sagging old rust-bucket, barely able to get out of its own way (and I donated it to the local public classical radio station, KUSC, with the stipulation that it be scrapped).

I expect my 2018 second-generation Leaf ("Millie," because she's "thoroughly modern") to last longer than my two previous vehicles, and to be the last vehicle I ever own. So long as the traction battery pack can be either replaced or rebuilt, it's not a problem. After all, "510" ceased to exist as a model designation long before Arabella was hauled off to her final rusting place.

And yes, the first-generation Leaf is funny-looking. Like something not of this planet.