Nissan Leaf News
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Which new vehicle sold today has the lowest overall carbon footprint over its lifetime? The answer, according to Automotive Science Group (via InsideEVs), turns out to be the Nissan Leaf battery-electric car. In a study to be released this spring, The Automotive Peformance Index: Redefining Value in the North American Automotive Marketplace, ASG offers consumers "information to make responsible purchasing decisions" based on a car's environmental impact and its maker's record of social responsibilty. MORE: Elon Musk Talks Tesla Model X Details, Model S Upgrades, At Europe Q+A Sessions Its...
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Temple Priest Reflects On Owning Nissan Leaf Electric Car: Video
One of the first Nissan Leaf owners was a Japanese priest, and three years later he still enjoys it.
Stephen Edelstein -
Nissan Celebrates 99,999...100,000 Leaf Electric Car Sales
There's a curious joy in watching your car's odometer tick over to some significant number. 11,111 miles perhaps, or a palindromic number. Or, of course, the big hundred-thousand. Nissan is experiencing that very same joy with sales of its Leaf electric car, as it sells the 99,999th and 100,000th...
Antony Ingram -
With Demand Soaring, Nissan Leaf U.S. Production Could Double This Year
With the 2014 Nissan Leaf going on sale this week and next, Nissan is poised to expand production and dramatically boost sales of its U.S.-built battery-electric hatchback. And if its CEO has his way, sales will double in 2014, from the 22,610 Leafs delivered in 2013 to 40,000 or more, perhaps as...
John Voelcker -
2014 Nissan Leaf Electric Car: 84-Mile Range, RearView Monitor Standard
The 2014 Nissan Leaf is now rolling off the assembly lines in Tennessee, and the first examples should arrive at dealerships this week or next. Now, after a long wait, we have information on the updates to the electric car for the new model year. Rated range rises to 84 miles Most importantly to...
John Voelcker -
Lighting A Christmas Tree The Modern Way: With An Electric Car
Should you be one of those people among our readers who celebrates the Christmas holiday, you might be interested in having a greener Christmas. Did you know, for example, that it's greener to have a real Christmas tree than a plastic one, unless you keep the plastic tree many years? The real ones...
Antony Ingram -
Just in time for the holiday-feast season, we now have published charts that detail the effect of cold weather on the battery range of Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt electric cars. Think "range shrinkage". The data comes courtesy of FleetCarma, the Canadian company whose app MyCarma tracks vehicle operation for fleet managers and a small number of private owners as well. Batteries and drivers like 70 degrees F The firm compiled data from more than 7,000 Nissan Leaf trips to determine how temperature affected the cars' real-world range. And the data includes drivers using cabin heat in the winter...
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Bhutan Mulls Turning All Taxis Into Nissan Leaf Electric Cars
Bhutanese prime minister Tshering Tobgay wants to make the small Himalayan country a center for electric-car development.
Stephen Edelstein -
Nissan R&D Chief: Carbon Fiber Is Good For Planes, Not Cars
Nissan has put a lot of investment into the battery and all-electric powertrain technology in its all-electric Leaf. Yet outside of that, the Leaf is a pretty ordinary small car in materials and layout. Meanwhile, the somewhat more expensive BMW i3 takes a radically different approach to materials...
Bengt Halvorson -
Nissan Leaf Likely To Get 'Hot Weather' Battery In Next Year
Nissan is readying a new lithium-ion chemistry for its Leaf electric car, aimed at better range performance in hot-weather climates. And it's likely bound for all Leaf models in the first half of next year. Last week at the Tokyo Motor Show, Andy Palmer, Nissan's executive vice president and global...
Bengt Halvorson -
Chevy Volt Owners Drive More Electric Miles Than Nissan Leaf Drivers: Why?
Is it a case of picking the right electric car for the right job? Or could a lack of "range anxiety" really lead drivers to cover more miles? It's a kind of chicken-or-egg question, but it came to mind when our author Matthew Klippenstein sent us some data. On average, owners of the Nissan Leaf...
John Voelcker -
Nissan Leaf Bumps Tesla Model S To Top Norway Oct Sales Charts
For the second month in a row, the best-selling car in Norway is powered by electricity.
Stephen Edelstein -
Most people in the U.S. have probably never seen a Nissan Leaf electric car. But Silicon Valley is different--it's crammed with plug-in electric cars, especially Teslas--and now it's got its own electric-car mystery. As longtime reader Anton Wahlman points out, a blue 2012 Nissan Leaf has now been parked for several months on Palo Alto's main drag, El Camino Real. It's easy to spot: It's missing its driver's door. [UPDATE: Through a combination of crowd-sourcing and private contacts, we tracked down the owner of the hapless Leaf. Tom Currier, a Stanford student who has 'stopped out' to work...
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What Happens To A Nissan Leaf Electric Car At A Gas Station?
The Nissan Leaf is launching in South Africa, and perplexing gas station attendants.
Stephen Edelstein -
Forget Red Ferraris; It's Green Cars Men Should Drive To Attract Women
A British study claims that women find men with green cars more attractive than those with expensive sports cars.
Stephen Edelstein -
Women Now Buying One-Third Of All Nissan Leaf Electric Cars
Perhaps a result of the comparatively limited selection of electric cars currently on sale, they've not yet developed any real gender stereotypes. While the geeky technological aspect might mark most out as a product most likely to be used by men, you're as likely to see women actually driving an...
Antony Ingram -
Dreaming Of A Nissan Leaf With Double The Range? Well...
Nissan's Barcelona Technical Centre built a Leaf prototype with a 48-kWh battery pack for a new racing series.
Stephen Edelstein -
Three Years With The First Nissan Leaf Electric Car Sold In The U.S.
The first person to take delivery of a Nissan Leaf electric car still enjoys it 30,000 miles later.
Stephen Edelstein -
The 2013 Nissan Leaf electric car is assembled in Smyrna, Tennessee, for North American sales. In fact, Nissan got a low-interest loan for $1.6 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy to make that possible. So why does every 2013 Leaf carry a window sticker saying that its U.S. and Canadian content is just 15 percent--while 80 percent of its parts content comes from Japan? Sticker shock The question arose in late July, coming from electric-car enthusiast Andrew Chiang, who photographed the sticker on a brand-new 2013 Leaf at Nissan Sunnyvale, in California. Chiang posted the photo in the...
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Why The 2013 Nissan Leaf Is Really A 2001 Toyota Prius
A lot of media discussion these days seems to focus overly on the low sales of plug-in electric cars (this piece from Friday, for instance). That despite the fact that plug-ins are selling faster than hybrid vehicles did at the same phase of their launch. But automotive history may provide another...
John Voelcker -
Elon Musk Talks Leaf, Volt; Unimpressed With Either (Video)
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] has every right to be proud of his creation, the Tesla Model S. It's snatched so many awards he probably needs a second office to keep them all in, and it's just been rated as the safest car the NHTSA has ever tested. When it comes to whatever the rest of...
Antony Ingram -
Can You Name The Top 10 U.S. Markets For Nissan Leaf Electric Car?
If you had to guess the top ten U.S. markets for Nissan Leaf sales, you'd probably select a bunch of locations on the west and east coasts. And for the most part, you'd be right--but as Nissan's own figures show, even a few of the Midwestern and Southern cities are getting behind the electric...
Antony Ingram -
Nissan Tests New Heat-Resistant Battery For Leaf Electric Car
Nissan is testing a revised lithium-ion cell chemistry for its Leaf electric car that the company says appears to be as durable in sustained extreme heat as its current battery is under normal conditions. If tests confirm that the new cells degrade at no more than the standard rate, even at high...
John Voelcker -
The Five Greenest, Most Energy-Efficient Cars of 2013
What cars available in dealers today make the most efficient use of energy? The answer turns out to be four battery-electric vehicles and one plug-in hybrid. Gasoline and diesel cars don't even come close; internal combustion engines waste two-thirds to three-quarters of the energy in their fuel on...
John Voelcker