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07-07-2010, 06:42 AM | #1 |
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Electric Vehicles
After years of buzz some EV's are starting to hit the market. Personally, I just don't get it. (Maybe I'm just too darn old and stuck in my ways)
If I have a pure EV and get stuck in a traffic jam or, want to run the AC or heat, I run the risk of running out of juice and being stuck. Also, spend a great deal of money and own a car you really can't take more than 50 miles from home unless you have someplace to plug it in. Or, you can get a car like the Volt that has a range extender. But paying high 30's for a car the size of the upcoming Cruze just doesn't make sense to me. The cost differential is a whole lot of gas. How do others feel? If you are a Nissan or Mini dealer do you have people looking to buy an EV? |
07-07-2010, 09:51 AM | #2 |
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Wall Street seems to see it the same way.....
I was just watching a segment on CNBC and thought of this thread. They indicated that Tesla's stock has now dropped 50% from its high and is now 30% below the offering price.
While I'm not an expert, my bet is the internal combustion engine will eventually be replaced by electric vehicles but it will be a long/slow process. The speed at which it happens will depend on the cost of gasoline and advances in battery technology. I agree with your assessment that currently the cost/benefit ratio for an electric vehicle doesn't make sense for most people. That said, I like what GM's done with their Volt and what Nissan's done with their Leaf and I hope they're successful. |
07-07-2010, 10:42 AM | #3 |
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Good article by CNN/Money
I ran across an interesting article CNN/Money did concerning the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf. Here's the link - click here
GM is only planning to build 10,000 Volts next year and Nissan is taking deposits on up to 25,000 Leafs - those are pretty small numbers in the big picture. I guess both GM and Nissan want to test the waters before they ramp up production - I can't say that I blame them. Who knows what the true demand will be once the initial novelty wears off? |
07-13-2010, 10:11 AM | #4 |
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CNBC just had a live Test Drive of the Nissan Leaf
CNBC's Phil Lebeau had a couple of segments this morning that featured the Nissan Leaf. Phil had a chance to test drive the vehicle for two hours yesterday and had mostly positive comments.
The Leaf will be available in December and should sell for about $24K after all the applicable tax incentives. (The MSRP is about $32K before tax incentives.) For those who may not be aware, the Nissan Leaf is 100% electric and is supposed to have a range of about 100 miles between charges. |
07-13-2010, 11:01 AM | #5 |
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16,000 people have put a $99 deposit on the Nissan Leaf
Here's a link to the review Phil Lebeau did after he tested the Nissan Leaf for a couple of hours - click here
I thought it was interesting that Nissan's collected $99 from over 16,000 people who want to be on the Leaf waiting list. I'm sure all 16,000 won't end up buying a car but it's an interesting tactic to screen-out the people who would typically sign up for a waiting list when they had no intention of buying a new car. |
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