Nissan Leaf News

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf

    It was surely no mistake that on the same day that General Motors unveiled pricing for its 2011 Chevrolet Volt, Nissan tried to grab at least some of the plug-in limelight and revealed new details about exactly where it will first roll out the Leaf.

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf
    2011 Nissan Leaf Matches Volt: 8 Year, 100,000 Mile Warranty

    A few hours after Chevrolet announced its pricing structure for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, Nissan have responded with details of the warranty it will offer on its 2011 all-electric Leaf. At the Plugin 2010 Conference in San Jose, California, Carlos Tavares, Nissan's executive vice president and head...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf
    Nissan Leaf to Chevy Volt: You Can't Beat Zero

    Now that the world knows the price of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt and of the 2011 Nissan Leaf...let the PR games begin. To the educated consumer, the difference between a Volt and a Leaf may be slight. Though the Volt uses a range-extending gasoline engine, it's an electric car--since its wheels are...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf
    In Line for a Nissan Leaf? You Probably Already Own a Prius

    If you're one of the more than 16,000 customers who put a deposit down on the 2011 Nissan Leaf, you're in luck--you're among the first in line as Nissan begins checking out home installation issues before opening the actual order process to pre-registered shoppers. And you're no newbie. In fact...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt
    Chevy Volt Price Announced

      The 2011 Chevrolet Volt has been in gestation so long, we've wondered if it ever would become a reality. Now the reality is here. GM announced the price for the 2011 Volt at Plug-In 2010, a conference being held this week in San Jose. The Volt's MSRP will be $41,000, which includes a $720...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf
    Perry: Nissan Won't Lose Money on 2011 Leaf

    Cutting-edge technology never comes cheaply. Automakers routinely subsidize it in new cars in new markets to gain a foothold, or even a competitive advantage--and still can lose money on innovation.Does Nissan plan to lose money with its upcoming electric car, the 2011 Leaf? "We don't," says Nissan...

  • Toyota Prius body damage

    When we wrote about the debate over whether silent electric vehicles should have noise legislated into them, we obviously hit a nerve. Now EV enthusiast Mark Larsen has added further data to his original analysis of 1994-2008 traffic death figures from the Fatality Reporting System maintained by the NHTSA. He added a new analysis of injury data, not just fatalities. At speeds below the 15 miles per hour where electric-drive vehicles may be hard to hear, collisions between vehicles and pedestrians are far more likely to result in injury than death. And, he also adjusted the injury and death...

  • Mitsubishi MiEV
    Mitsubishi i-MiEV Edges Closer To Late-2011 U.S. Rollout

    With the 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevrolet Volt arriving this fall—if you're so lucky to be one of the top names on the list—the electric vehicle buzz is about migrate from social media platforms and signup lists to real dealership showrooms.

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf
    VIDEO: 2011 Nissan Leaf EV Navigation System Demo

      When the 2011 Nissan Leaf goes on sale later this year, each copy of the first mass-market electric car on earth will come with a navigation system. Nifty spiff--and an integral part of the Leaf experience. High Gear Media took a quick drive in a 2011 Leaf prototype today in San Jose, while...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf
    2011 Nissan Leaf: Live Photos

    The 2011 Nissan Leaf is in the final stages of development before it rolls into showrooms late this year. Today, High Gear Media took the Leaf for a first drive around San Jose, California, before the Plug-In 2010 Conference and before a very big announcement from Nissan on future Leaf sales. We're...

  • Leaf Trio
    Should Nissan Offer Warranty Options For The 2011 Leaf?

     What is an acceptable warranty for an electric car? Three years? Four years? Ten Years? And should customers be able to choose what that warranty level is? That is the question Nissan was asking last week when it sent out a questionnaire to the 16,100 people who have paid out $99 to reserve a...

  • Toyota Prius body damage
    Sounds For Silent EVs: Solving a Problem That May Not Exist

    It's a wonderful TV news flash: Blind people in peril from killer electric cars! News at 11. The fear is that electric vehicles are so silent that blind people can't hear them coming, so new draft safety regulations may now require electric vehicles to emit sounds. There's just one problem...

  • 2011 Nissan LEAF prototype

    According to a recent report by Nissan, most consumers signed up to buy the 2011 Nissan Leaf are already electric vehicle owners or hybrid drivers. In short, early adopters are mainly enthusiasts who already know the ins and outs of driving electric. But what about the general public? We've sat down and come up with five questions we think Consumers will want to know before they stump up the cash for a new car powered by electric. 1. How do we refuel? It's a simple question that's often overlooked with a simple answer. - You plug it in. But let's examine how, why and when. Most consumers will...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf
    Most 2011 Nissan Leaf Drivers Plan to Lease Rather Than Buy

    Are you buying a 2011 Nissan Leaf? If you're one of the 16,064 lucky people who has already placed a $99 deposit down on one of the most eagerly anticipated cars of the year, Nissan thinks it knows how you'll finance the $32,780 cost of purchase. Nissan expects most people to lease. And it turns...

  • 2011 Smart electric drive  -  first drive
    Detroit Dinosaur Thinks Kilowatts Are a Buzzkill, World Laughs

    As any parent will tell you, progress takes time. Evolution often takes a much longer time yet. So rather than pounding our head on the wall when we read idiotic editorials, perhaps we should take a deep breath and calmly reflect that those who can't adapt to change will eventually die out. What...

  • 2011 Brammo Empulse. Official Brammo Photograph
    Why Your First Electric Vehicle Could Have Two Wheels

     We're living in exciting times. In the next year we'll see electric cars hit the market in the form of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Mitsubishi i-Miev to name just three. While we wax lyrical about the multitude of vehicles set to reach the market there are very few available...

  • Leaf Trio
    2011 Nissan Leaf: Industry Says It Drives Like A…

    The Question Is Will It Change the Automotive Landscape

  • Power lines by Flickr user achouro
    No, Electric Vehicles Won't Bring Down the U.S. Power Grid

    Last week's heat wave prompted another eruption of that perennial question: Won't electric cars that recharge from grid power overload the nation's electricity system? Or put more bluntly: Will electric vehicles bring down the U.S. power grid? The answer, equally bluntly, is: No. They won't. (And...

  • Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car at quick charging station

    Auto industry analysts get paid to issue reports, and most of them are vastly better at data analysis and number crunching than we'll ever be. That doesn't mean, however, that sometimes their data isn't misleading. It's important to keep context in mind, and not miss the forest for the trees. What's got us thinking this way is a blog post from Pike Research, which neatly analyzed how much money average consumers in different countries could save by driving a plug-in vehicle versus a gasoline one. Their data puts the poor old U.S. consumer pretty much at the bottom of the heap. Buyers in...

  • CA 'Access OK' Clean Air Vehicle carpool lane sticker
    California Yanks Prius Perks: No More Hybrid HOV-Lane Access

    You may remember that in California, 85,000 lucky owners of three hybrid vehicles were granted special stickers giving them access to High-Occupancy Vehicle lanes, even with only a single occupant in the car. Well, their luck runs out on December 31, the last day those stickers are valid. While...

  • Wrecked Toyota Prius owned by Elizabeth James, photo by Ted James, from Houston Press
    How Do First Responders Act Around a Crashed Hybrid or EV?

    Once more, a reader question prompts us to share the answer with our entire green car audience. In this case, it's about how first responders should approach accidents that involve vehicles with high-voltage battery packs, whether they're conventional hybrids (e.g. Toyota Prius) or upcoming...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt - testing on Pike's Peak, October 2009
    Can GM Convince You a 2011 Chevy Volt Is the Go-Anywhere EV?

    As we count down the months before the first 2011 Chevrolet Volts arrive at dealers in California, New York, Michigan, and Washington, D.C., it's time for the latest reboot of the Chevy marketing machine to kick into action. Chevrolet said in a press conference last week it would start running ads...

  • Nissan LEAF Charging Port
    Japanese Firm Lets EVs Refill Faster Than a Gas Car

    What can you do in three minutes? Boil a egg? Buy a Coffee? Check your Mail? Visit the bathroom? Thanks to Japanese based JFE Engineering, you can now add half-charging your EV to the list, courtesy of its ultra-fast charge station. Designed to comply with the CHAdeMo standard developed by Tokyo...

  • Citroen C1 ev'ie
    Forget The Showroom, Your First EV Test-Drive Could Be A Rental Car

    Imagine going on a  vacation to London, or Paris. You've just got over the jet-lag and are feeling like exploring the city.  You've done all the usual tourist activities and have some friends on the other side of town to visit. Do you navigate a strange subway system, take a taxi, or make your...

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