nissan leaf
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After several months of using a 2011 Chevy Volt and a 2011 Nissan Leaf as our sole family transport, we have a better understanding of both cars than we did in March, when I first wrote about how they compared. First to arrive at our West Sacramento home was a beautiful crystal red 2011 Volt. We chose the neutral leather upgraded interior with heated seats and the backup camera option, but did not go for the polished wheels. We had not driven the Volt before taking delivery of ours, and we hadn't owned an American car at all since 1969. We were immediately impressed with the finish on the...
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Want A 2011 Nissan Leaf? Get That Charging Station In First!
If you're on the U.S. waiting list for a 2011 Nissan Leaf, we certainly hope you already have a charging station already installed in your garage. Bloomberg caught wind that some consumers are having their orders dropped temporarily until they install a plug-in charger at home and present the...
Kevin Lee -
Advertising Electric Cars: What To Make Of Leaf vs. Volt Spat?
For the first time in 80 years or so, major automakers are building and selling plug-in electric cars in the U.S. How are they letting people know about their new cars? Advertising, of course. Our colleague Richard Read looked at four electric-car TV ads, analyzing what made them work and what...
John Voelcker -
Why Buy Electric Cars? Iraq Vet Says: For National Security
Most Nissan Leaf owners are passionate about their electric cars, especially the earliest ones who've already taken delivery. But not all of them have served three tours of military duty, including service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tim Goodrich was posted to Afghanistan as an avionics technician...
John Voelcker -
Nissan: 12,000 Leafs Will Be Sold in U.S. by End of 2011
Yesterday the monthly sales figures for the 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevrolet Volt were released, giving rise to the usual slew of articles picking apart the buying decisions of U.S. car buyers. But behind the traditional media frenzy on the first of every month as plug-in vehicle sales figures...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Standard 2011 Electric Nissan Leaf To Climb Pike's Peak
The all-electric 2011 Nissan Leaf will be joining the 89th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 26th. But, surprisingly it won't be the race-modified Nismo Leaf RC. Instead, the 2011 Leaf, driven by veteran Nissan off-road truck racing champion Chad Hord, will be a car fresh off the factory...
Kevin Lee -
Sigh. Here we go again. It's the first of the month, which means that auto journalists are scrambling to put together their monthly sales reports. Sales in May weren't great, for a variety of reasons: higher prices and shortages of some Japanese models, among others. Unusual scrutiny But the most dismal part of the monthly process is watching the inordinate attention paid to sales of the two plug-in electric cars now available at U.S. dealerships. Those are the 2011 Chevy Volt and the 2011 Nissan Leaf, and every month their sales have been followed with the kind of media scrutiny usually...
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Obama Administration Buys Electric Cars, Charging Stations
The President may be currently abroad experiencing the horror of European ramps, but his government has been busy at home ordering the very cars its stimulus program has helped to fund. The General Services Administration responsible for the upkeep of the federal government’s 600,000 strong...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
U.S. Carmakers To Japan: Don't Need Your Stinkin' Fast-Charge
So you bought a 2011 Nissan Leaf, and paid for the optional $700 quick-charge connector. Now you're able to get an 80-percent battery recharge in just 30 minutes, albeit from very few places right now. Promising, right? Not so fast, sonny. It appears that U.S. makers of electric cars are likely to...
George Parrott -
Top Gear: Doing Another Silly, Deceptive Electric-Car Stunt?
Uh oh, here we go again. Or not? The crew of the British car show Top Gear have been spotted in the British town of Lincoln, traveling in a pair of electric cars, the 2011 Nissan Leaf and a Peugeot iOn (which will be sold in the States as the 2012 Mitsubishi 'i'). Hosts Jeremy Clarkson and James...
John Voelcker -
Earth Day: Eager Electric-Car Advocates Meet Unaware Public
Three weeks ago, in a suburban park in Roseville, California--just outside the state capital, Sacramento--a community celebration of Earth Day served as a gathering of the greenest cars now available. Both participants and random park-goers were drawn to the cars, providing a chance for eager...
George Parrott -
Is GM’s U.S. Boss Scared By The 2011 Nissan Leaf Electric Car?
You’d hardly expect Mark Reuss, the North American President of General Motors, to be a fan of the primary rival to the company's 2011 Chevrolet Volt. But in a recent interview with the Nashville Business Journal, the man responsible for starting the GM Performance Division took his dislike...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Vacaville, California, has the distinction of the very first public Level 3 or DC quick charging station for electric cars to be installed in the United States. It was first activated in late May 2010, and was used very soon after for a small fleet of Mitsubishi i-MIEV models to make a trip from San Francisco to Sacramento, a distance of 88 miles. The DC quick charge station uses the CHAdeMO interface which is standardized in Japan but not yet been confirmed as a U.S. standard. However, this is the connector that is being installed in the U.S. right now. Vacaville has more 45 electric vehicle...
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2011 Nissan Leaf Software Update: Easy, But Slow (4 Hours?)
Nissan's new electric car, the 2011 Leaf, is rolling out slowly. Recently, it came to light that early-delivery vehicles are failing to start after the air conditioning has been used under certain circumstances. Nissan has developed a software update to fix the problem, and will install it in all...
George Parrott -
April Electric Car Sales: Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf Steady
Sales of plug-in electric cars continued at a steady pace in April, with 493 Chevrolet Volts and 573 Nissan Leafs sold during the month. That brings yearly totals of the cars to 1,703 and 1,025 respectively. There were also 326 Volts and 19 Leafs sold last December, the month in which each car...
John Voelcker -
Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt Get Highest IIHS Crash-Safety Ratings
Spend much time looking into electric cars online and you’ll come across the old chestnut that suggests that battery electric and plug-in hybrid cars just aren’t as safe as their gasoline-engined counterparts. But the two best-selling mainstream electric cars of the year have just put...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf Get Top IIHS Crash-Safety Ratings
Among the many things that confuse or worry potential buyers of plug-in electric cars is whether they'll be safe. One concern is car washes or even deep pools of water, but another is whether the battery pack will be damaged or dangerous in an accident. Well, now you can chalk that last one off the...
John Voelcker -
Elon Musk, Bob Lutz On Red Carpet At 'Revenge of Electric Car' Premiere
Every movie has to have a premiere, and every premiere has to have a red carpet. When the red carpet is on a Manhattan sidewalk, with plenty of passers-by stopping to gawk, and many of the celebs are arriving in electric cars, things get a little more complicated. Still, last night's premiere of...
John Voelcker -
Blue light bathed the concept car in the corner before Nissan launched its 2012 Versa sedan at the 2011 New York Auto Show today. The images were so striking we thought we'd bring you a photo gallery of Nissan's electric race-car concept, just so you can see it from all angles, looking like nothing so much as a nightclub display. The Nissan Leaf Nismo RC Concept, to nod to its full name, is a rear-wheel-drive version of the 2011 Nissan Leaf electric car that's been heavily modified for racing. It's 40 percent lighter, clearly stripped out and radically lowered, using an 80-kilowatt motor...
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2011 New York Auto Show Preview: Nissan Leaf Nismo RC Concept
It might be just three days away from its official unveiling at the 2011 New York Auto Show, but Nissan just can’t help sharing its latest electric vehicle a little early. Called the Nissan Leaf Nismo RC - that’s Racing Competition - the all-electric race-prepared car looks a little...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Consumer Reports: Usually Thoughtful, Not Always Accurate
Last week, the Associated Press distributed a video report called "Are Electric Cars Worth the Price?" (It's embedded at the bottom of this article.) The video featured this author as an example of someone who owns both the 2011 Nissan Leaf and the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, and it included commentary...
George Parrott -
2011 Nissan Leaf One Week In: Five Things We Like
As you may have seen earlier this week, I’ve been a proud owner of a 2011 Nissan Leaf since late last month. Today marks ten days since we took delivery. We’ve already shared the five things that we hate about the 2011 Leaf, so now it’s time to share the things we really like...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Is Obama's Goal of 1 Million Plug-In Cars By 2015 Feasible?
Since 2008, Barack Obama has consistently promoted the goal of having 1 million advanced technology vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015. The number refers to plug-in vehicles that use grid power, stored in lithium-ion battery packs, to operate their electric traction motors. Regular hybrids like the...
John Voelcker -
Electric Car Noise Generators Don't Work in the Real World
Earlier this year we heard that the a United Nations committee on noise levels in plug-in vehicles was about to mandate that all plug-in cars be made to emit artificial noises when traveling at low speed. But as we’ve illustrated in the past, we’re not entirely convinced that forcing...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield