Mention to most people that you plan to but an electric car, and one of the first concerns they will mention is battery life. Really, they will say, I can't keep the battery in my dinky little cell phone charged for longer than a day or so...so how will a car be any different? What if the battery refuses to hold a charge, just like the one in my cell phone, or can't be fully charged, like the one in my iPod or laptop?
Apparently this battery issue is fairly top-of-mind for many consumers who would otherwise likely at least consider an electric car purchase.
But this week, at the Automotive NewsGreen Car Conference, Nissan made an announcement that will help address those pesky battery-life questions: they may lease the batteries separate from their electric cars. And aside from mitigating consumer concerns about battery life, it may go a long way to proving a true apples-to-apples cost of ownership, comparing pure vehicle cost of Nissan's electric car versus the Chevy you're driving now, plus the lease fee of the battery versus your current gas-pump fill-up bill. A pretty brilliant idea on the part of Nissan, who plan to put hundreds, if not thousands, of their electric cars on the road here in the States and in Japan for real-world testing in 2010.
