Driving Experience

PEVs in California triple from 2011 to 2012

May 23, 2013
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EVs gaining ground in California The California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) has released its second survey of plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) owners (found here). We reported on the results of the first survey last August (found here). With information provided by over 2,000 electric vehicle (EV) owners, this report provides information and details found [...]

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J. D. Power EV Study analysis continued

November 13, 2012
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Wrong size and not reliable? Really? In our last article, we took a look at the issue of the cost of driving a Nissan LEAF. In this one, we will examine the two other reasons cited for not going electric – vehicle size and reliability. One of the most likely reasons one might buy a [...]

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Nissan reaches out via You Tube

October 8, 2012
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Nissan’s first open discussion with EV advocate Chelsea Sexton Nissan Executive Vice President Andy Palmer answered some questions from electric vehicle (EV) advocate Chelsea Sexton regarding the current and future state of the Nissan LEAF in the US. Ms. Sexton has been asked by Nissan to organize an independent global EV advisory board to provide Nissan with another [...]

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Nissan LEAF battery capacity loss – last in a series

August 27, 2012
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What does it all mean? For the last several weeks, Living LEAF has been writing about the loss of battery capacity in the Nissan LEAF. Owners on the My Nissan LEAF (MNL) forum have devoted over 3,000 posts to this topic alone, making it the most discussed topic on the forum. After reading the first [...]

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California Plug-in Electric Vehicle Owner Survey Results

August 24, 2012
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California Center for Sustainable Energy completes EV Survey The California Center for Sustainable Energy surveyed more than 2,500 electric vehicle (EV) owners to provide the state with its most comprehensive data compiled to date regarding the usage of EVs in California. Of the 2,526 vehicle owners selected for the survey, 1,419 vehicle owners chose to [...]

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Nissan looks to reduce range anxiety

July 7, 2012
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Smartphone and website apps to provide needed info Nissan has introduced two services to its Japan-based LEAF owners (for now) to more accurately determine the range remaining in ones LEAF. One app provides a prediction of what battery capacity will be once you have reached your destination. The other uses the database of LEAF owners [...]

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LEAF shows off efficiency in Canada

May 15, 2012
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Canadian journalist group showcases green automobiles A group of Canadian journalists gathered to drive 23 fuel efficient vehicles from Brighton to London, Ontario, Canada to highlight the potential of green automotive technology. The vehicles ranged from the merely fuel efficient (Fiat 500, Mazda 3 SKYACTIV) through diesel (Volkswagen Passat TDI Clean Diesel), Hybrid (Hyundai Sonata [...]

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EPA range and the electric vehicle

April 21, 2012
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Let us know if you can figure it out Some things that we learned in grade school apparently don’t work in the real world. Like basic math for instance. We decided to demystify the confusing EPA mileage range assigned to various manufacturer’s electric vehicles (EVs) only to be slapped down by yet another confusing government process. [...]

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Nissan LEAF one year battery check

April 18, 2012
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Our LEAF goes in for its annual checkup As with most other things in life, we were late getting our LEAF in for its first annual battery checkup. We took delivery of our LEAF on March 25 of last year, and in that time have managed to rack up a total of only 6,400 miles. [...]

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Real world Nissan LEAF usage

April 8, 2012
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Does range matter? One of the questions that we get most often is how far will our LEAF go. The answer for us is that its maximum range is irrelevant, because we never drive it that far. But what about everyone else? That’s what we’re going to look at today. Nissan has uploaded a bunch [...]

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