Nissan: Leaf electric car will cost $25,000 - Mar. 30, 2010

Nissan: Leaf electric car will cost $25,000 - Mar. 30, 2010

by Peter Valdes-Dapena, senior writerMarch 30, 2010: 2:18 PM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Nissan announced Tuesday that its Leaf electric car will come with a sticker price of $32,780. But after a federal tax credit of $7,500, the car will only set you back about $25,280.

That would make the Leaf considerably less expensive than General Motors' Chevrolet Volt, which is expected to cost around $40,000, or about $32,500 after the federal tax credit.

The Leaf expected to go on sale in December, one month after the Volt.

By keeping the sticker price low, the Leaf will be profitable for Nissan, said Mark Perry, Nissan's director of product planning. That means customers should expect more variants of the Leaf in coming years, he added.

Nissan has already said that there will be a luxury Infiniti version of the car.

Industry analysts have frequently said that electric cars would not be profitable for years to come because of the high costs associated with the vehicles batteries.

"We've been working in lithium ion batteries for 17 years," Perry said. "So all that advanced research and engineering work we've [already] paid for."

The Leaf and Volt are not quite directly competitive, although both are electric cars. The Leaf is an all-electric car with an around-town driving range of about 100 miles. The Volt has a range of only 40 miles, enough for a typical days driving, but it also has a gasoline engine to generate electricity for further driving up to about 300 miles.

Nissan had previously said that it expected to price the Leaf competitively to similar gasoline-powered cars such as a well-equipped Honda Civic.

The Leaf's standard features will include navigation and Bluetooth telephone connectivity, said Perry.
0:00 /4:25The great electric car debate

Nissan already has a list of more than 80,000 people who have expressed interest in the Leaf, Perry said. And in coming weeks, Nissan will begin taking refundable $99 deposits for the car.

Those who submit deposits can have their homes inspected to make sure they have appropriate space and wiring to install a charging dock, Perry said. Nissan expects about half those expressing interest to submit a deposit, he said.

Nissan also expects many customers to lease the car. That way, they won't have to worry about filing or refiling their taxes go get the benefit since it will factored into the lease payments, Perry noted.

The car will lease for a $349 a month with an initial down payment $1,999.

"Our goal there was to get our total operating cost, vehicle, electricity charging station, all in, around $400 a month," Perry said.

In some states there are also state incentives for the purchase of an electric car. In California, for example, there is a $5,000 credit which would reduce the cost to just over $20,000, Perry said.

Nissan has partnered with an outside company, AeroVironment, to install home chargers for the car. Installation of the charger will typically cost $2,200, Perry said, but there is a tax credit that will cover half the cost up to $2,000.

GM introduces 2-wheel, 2-seat car of future

GM introduces 2-wheel, 2-seat car of future

General Motors' latest concept car, the “electric networked-vehicle,” or EN-V, is about 5 feet by 5 feet and weighs 880 pounds fully loaded.


by Elaine Kurtenbach Associated Press Mar. 25, 2010 12:00 AM

SHANGHAI, China - It's not quite as foldable as the space vehicle that cartoon figure George Jetson pops into his briefcase as he bops into the office.

But the EN-V concept car

, GM's "automobile solution" for the future, just might fit into an apartment foyer.

General Motors and its Chinese partner SAIC will showcase the "electric networked-vehicle," launched Wednesday, in their joint pavilion at the Shanghai Expo, which opens May 1 and runs for six months.

The EN-V, pronounced "envy," is GM's latest effort to burnish its credentials as a future-focused, environmentally friendly company and shed its image as the bastion of the gas-guzzling Hummer.

The automaker

is winding down Hummer after a deal collapsed to sell it to a Chinese heavy-equipment maker.

GM is not alone in viewing China as the ultimate landscape for tiny urban vehicles.

Daimler introduced its Smart ultracompact here in 2008, though few of them can be seen yet on Shanghai streets.

The two-wheel, two-seat EN-V, which looks something like an oversize vacuum cleaner, is not just about making vehicles small, lightweight and emission-free, the company says.

"What we're talking about here is completely redoing the automobile," says Michael Albano, director of product and technology communications at General Motors International Operations, its global headquarters for international business in Shanghai.

With the trunk-less EN-V, GM has jettisoned the traditional "three box" system and gasoline-fueled engine in place of a pure-electric minivehicle meant strictly for city driving.

Five fit in the parking space needed for one conventional vehicle, says Kevin Wale, president and managing director for GM China Group.

"GM's vision with SAIC is petroleum-free, emission-free, accident-free and congestion-free," Wale said. "We think we can do that by combining the benefits of electricity and connectivity."

The EN-V, about 5 feet by 5 feet, appears to build on GM's earlier work with Segway Inc. in developing the PUMA, or personal urban mobility and accessibility, vehicle.

It will use the same types of battery cells as the Segway and the same battery supplier, Valence Technology Inc., says Christopher Borroni-Bird, GM's director of advanced-technology vehicle concepts.

The EN-V's maximum speed of 24 mph - even now city roads average only 12 mph and often less - and other high-tech features reduce the need for heavy, high-stress steel, bumpers, air bags and crumple zones, Albano says.

Apart from its diminutive size and light weight - 880 pounds, including the passengers - the vehicle would offer drivers the option of "autonomous driving": letting the car drive itself via an elaborate system of GPS systems, digital maps, roadway and vehicle sensors, cameras and other devices.

In theory, EN-Vs could be hitched together to allow drivers to commute to work while finishing up shaving or making phone calls.