Nissan's EV to cost same as conventional car... before leasing batteries
Imagine a world where you don't buy cars any more and none of the cars that we do drive emit anything. Unlike the present, where no one buys Nissans Carlos Tavares believes not buying cars at all will eventually happen as a result of moving to car sharing. Such a system might be similar to what we see today with the likes of ZipCar, just on a much larger scale where customers pay for access to cars on an as-needed basis. Long before we get to that point though, Nissan plans to start selling electric cars to the public, beginning in 2010 in markets like Israel and Denmark before moving globally a couple of years later. At the Automotive News Green Car Conference, Tavares told the audience that company's first EV would have a similar price to other current small cars. Considering what lithium ion batteries cost, this might come as a surprise. However, that's because as with the toys you buy your kids at Christmas, batteries are not included in the box. The batteries will be leased separately and Tavares believes that even with this extra expense the total cost of ownership over the life of the car will be lower than a gasoline equivalent. Exactly what that cost will be has not yet been revealed.
Gallery: Nissan Denki Cube Concept
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brn 4:06PM (11/14/2008)
Take out the part that makes it expensive and it costs the same as the other cars?
Got it.
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Mark 4:09PM (11/14/2008)
Leasing the batteries?
Instant fail right then and there. Either full sale or no dime leaves my pocket.
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Aaron Sparky 12:11PM (11/18/2008)
LEASING the batteries - because they will 'expire' before the car does. Anyone who has owned re-chargeable batteries knows this. You get 'fresh' ones when the old ones begin to show a reduced storage capacity. THus - a Lease (they get it back...and then they re-cycle them as well)
It's a win- win. Customer wins: will not have to dispose of older battery. Environment wins: land fills won't be overwhelmed with electric-car batteries.
"Think-ing... .party-of-one..... Think-ing... party of one "
ECD4ME 4:18PM (11/14/2008)
leasing ultimately has to cost the same as buying, actually more since you're using more of someones money. It could get the up front cost down enough that people can buy them,
Gas powered transport has to get very expensive to make this an attractive proposition, Perhaps we need some kind of a fuel price floor, based a a tax which could then be used to rebate some cost to another sector or to do things which need funded.
Manufacturers need to see a market out there as they commit increasing sums of money to developing this stuff. Can that 10-15000 dollary batttery set come down to 2000, not likely in my opinion
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mike 7:56PM (11/14/2008)
This obvious problem is that it is not the battery which makes the car go, but the electricity.
Perhaps the numbers can be worked out to still be beneficial over the gasoline choice.
But don't tell me the battery lease is cheaper than buying gas unless you've factored in the cost of the electricity to put into the batteries.
- mike
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GenWaylaid 1:47AM (11/15/2008)
Currently there's no good apples-to-apples comparison of energy consumption between gas and electric versions of the same car (something the Mini-E will rectify), but even conservatively it shouldn't take more than 8 kilowatt-hours of electricity to move a car the same distance as a gallon of gasoline. In most places that costs a dollar or less. Even with gas prices where they currently are, electricity is still a cheaper way to get around.
The real question is how far one has to drive in a year before the savings from buying electricity instead of gasoline offset the cost of the battery lease. With $2.50 a gallon gas, the break-even point is somewhere around 2000 miles for every $100 of battery lease costs. With $4.00 a gallon gas, the break-even distance is half that. Your mileage / electricity rates / lease terms may vary.
Here's my question for Nissan: What happens if I keep the car I bought but don't renew my lease on the battery pack? Will a team of Nissan mechanics come to my driveway and rip it out? Am I free to buy an aftermarket battery pack then? Leasing just one part of a car is uncharted territory.