Program Notes

At the test location, Nissan technician Dean Romaine orients me to the prototype car's dashboard and controls.

The all-electric Nissan Leaf car prototype visited Seattle's Qwest Field this week.


Kate Quigley, of the Nissan Leaf Road Crew, gives an on-camera interview at a media drive day.


The Leaf has no internal combustion engine, which makes it a zero-emissions car. (The electricity that charges it, however, is not necessarily emissions-free.) Nissan expects the Leaf to be the first affordable, all-electric car.

This prototype is the Leaf powertrain, batteries and regenerative braking system under the body of a Nissan Tida.

Initially it's a lot like driving a Toyota Prius hybrid... until the straightaway, where Dean persuades me to floor it.

The acceleration is quick -- and almost completely silent. The Leaf has 107 horsepower and tops out at 90 miles an hour -- although I don't come close to that.

You can't buy this, or any production all-electric car, in the US today. Nissan will begin taking reservations for the Leaf in the spring of 2010.

It has all the creature comforts -- air conditioning, cruise control, stereo, and a navigation system that shows the locations of the nearest public charging stations.

In some cities, Leaf drivers won't have to wait for the charging infrastructure to catch up. Mark Perry, Nissan North America's Director of Product Planning, says Seattle is part of a DOE project to place 2,500 charging stations to the Puget Sound region this summer. Perry says there will be a public charging station within five miles of any spot in the Puget sound area.

But Nissan expects most owners to charge at home, overnight. The charger is built into the car, with a timer so you can control when it charges itself.

The ideal car battery would have a long range, and minimal residual waste at the end of its useful life. Nissan is taking advantage of battery technology developed for consumer electronics.

The Leaf's battery is a LiMn chemistry. Nissan expects it to have a ten year life. As Nissan improves its battery technology, car owners will be able to upgrade. At end of life, Perry says Nissan has planned to recycle the battery.

The Leaf itself contains quite a bit of recycled materials. The one thing it doesn't have is a tailpipe. It is completely emissions-free -- no carbon. And, in places like Seattle, where the energy utility gets its power from renewable energy, is carbon neutral, even the charging source is carbon neutral.

 By Richard Kessler for Recharge News

"GM is spending $336m to upgrade the Hamtramck plant; $202m for a new plant in Flint, north of Detroit, that will build 1.4 litre engine-generators; $43m for a plant in Brownstown Township outside Detroit that will manufacture battery packs; $37m for a camshaft and connecting rod plant in Bay City, north of Flint; and $27m for GM’s Tech Center in suburban Warren, a Detroit suburb, location of Volt’s battery laboratory."

Here is the full text of the entire article, in case the link goes bad: http://www.rechargenews.com/regions/north_america/article200963.ece