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2013 Nissan LEAF pricing announced

January 15, 2013
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Significant price reductions with domestic production $28,800. That is the new entry level price of the 2013 Nissan LEAF. Take off the federal and state incentives in California, the LEAFs best selling state to date, and the new LEAF S can be had for under $20,000, including destination. Perhaps even more amazing is the 36 [...]

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Nissan announces 2013 LEAF specifications

January 9, 2013
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Lower priced LEAF to be available Let me warn you now – if you want to learn about the changes to the 2013 LEAF you might as well grab a cup of coffee (or perhaps a stronger beverage of your choosing), and make yourself comfortable. We’re going to be here for awhile. First up – [...]

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RAV4 EV or LEAF?

December 12, 2012
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Is the extra $12,000 worth it? As with most things, comparing two similar but not identical items is challenging. Different needs drive the decision, along with the elusive desires that are oftentimes difficult to quantify. We got a chance to get behind the wheel of the RAV4 EV recently at the Los Angeles Auto Show. In our [...]

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2013 LEAF announced – for Japan

November 27, 2012
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Still awaiting US Spec LEAF announcement Last week Nissan Global announced the updated 2013 Nissan LEAF for the Japanese home market. Think evolutionary, rather than revolutionary. There is a launch video of the announcement – in Japanese. We tried to suffer through it to watch the slides at least, but couldn’t make it more than [...]

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Why should I buy a LEAF instead of a Focus Electric?

May 14, 2012
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Is there an advantage? The world is full of conflict, confusion and contradiction. Sometimes, we just want a simple answer, but it seems elusive. Just last week a friend of ours asked – why should I buy a LEAF instead of a Focus Electric? Let’s take a look at these two cars. First and foremost, [...]

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CHAdeMO may lose its smile

May 13, 2012
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SAE International leaning to separate standard No surprise here, but SAE International is looking to embrace a different electric vehicle (EV) fast charging standard than the CHAdeMO standard adopted by several Japanese manufacturers, according to Automotive News. The first clue is that the engineer leading the group is a General Motors engineer. Not difficult to [...]

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Nissan spills some future LEAF info

April 14, 2012
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From a webchat with a Nissan exec Mark Perry, Nissan’s Product Planning guy, participated in a webchat last week on Facebook to answer questions directly from participants. If you missed it (as we did) you can review the entire contents of that webchat here. We read through the hour long chat and pulled out some [...]

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NHTSA says Chevrolet Volt at no greater fire risk than gasoline powered vehicles

January 21, 2012
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“No discernible defect trend exists” Electric vehicles, whether they are full battery-electric vehicles such as the Nissan LEAF, or hybrid electric vehicles such as the Chevrolet Volt, present new technology that has not yet been fully tested in the real world. By this we mean that computer simulations and laboratory testing will provide a large [...]

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EV Battery Technology differences

December 31, 2011
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A closer look at the Nissan LEAF battery assembly Our article yesterday was about our drive in the Coda Sedan. A reader commented that the lithium iron phosphate chemistry of the battery pack in the Coda was also a lithium ion battery, which prompted some additional investigation on our part. According to Wikipedia, the lithium [...]

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Mitsubishi i

October 24, 2011
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First deliveries of Mitsubishi i due in California in January Our article regarding the upcoming Chevrolet Spark EV prompted a discussion about what size EV is the right size. As with all things, it depends upon your situation. Perhaps a smaller vehicle is right for you. So let’s take a look at another LEAF alternative [...]

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