Program To Track Charging Habits Of Nissan LEAF Early Adopters Page 2

By Bengt Halvorson

Bengt Halvorson

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Bengt Halvorson is Deputy Editor of High Gear Media's portfolio of car sites, overseeing the production of reviews, evaluating vehicles firsthand... More

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"They'll have to not only become more familiar with the vehicle but more familiar with the infrastructure that's out there," added Francfort. Helping Nissan LEAF owners with this—and reducing the likelihood of so-called range anxiety—will be an onboard nav system that automatically matches up miles remaining with charging locations. Also, a simple, color-coded map screen will show with shading the LEAF's 'reachable area.'

2011 Nissan LEAF prototype

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2011 Nissan LEAF prototype

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At no point will the eTec/INL project directly ask participants about their level of range anxiety; they'll instead look for a particular combination of data points and driving/charging behavior that might indicate it.

Rich Feldman, a regional manager for eTec, said that the data will be used to help determine whether there are enough charging stations, and whether they're located in the right places. And the rollout of charging stations themselves is a work in progress; what's learned in these first test markets will help affect where charging stations go in cities and neighborhoods, and along commute routes.

For now, Nissan is hoping that its tremendous investment—in the infrastructure before the cars have even begun to arrive—will be a catalyst. The biggest hurdle will be making sure that there are enough vehicles to have that investment make sense to other companies and municipalities and in turn spark further demand-based development on a national level.

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