Nissan has just introduced what is claimed to be the first affordable, zero-emission car in the world – the Nissan LEAF. Designed to work specially with a lithium-ion battery-powered chassis, the Nissan LEAF comes as a medium-size hatchback which is able to seat five adults comfortably. The power train lacks a tail pipe found in its internal-combustion engine (ICE) equipped vehicles, resulting in zero emissions of all manner of greenhouse gases. The Nissan LEAF’s regenerative braking system will work well with its innovative lithium-ion battery packs to provide a driving range of over 160km on a single charge. What hasn’t been revealed by Nissan New Zealand however is the cost of leasing of the Leaf’s battery pack. In the United States, the Leaf is predicted to have a sticker price of around $30,000 US ($42,000 NZ) – and this doesn’t include the battery pack.
According to BusinessWeek, the Leaf’s battery pack costs approximately $10,000 US to manufacture and Nissan will always remain the owner of this pack which is only leased to the consumer for approximately $150 US ($213 NZ) per month.
This means if you hang on to your new Leaf for 6 years, you’ll have already paid off the battery in leasing fees. Not only that, but the car remains at the mercy of Nissan: They’re within their rights to change lease pricing and/or recall battery packs as they please.
This means your new Leaf could easily become the next EV1 – the only difference being that while your Leaf won’t be crushed, it’s battery certainly could be; leaving your shiny new electric car sitting dead on your driveway.作者: beck@ 时间: 2011-5-18 20:56:20