Barron’s disses LEAF

Portuguese LEAFNo real surprise there

 A 20-something Barron’s reporter, likely tasked with running the LEAF out of juice, managed to do just that as you can see in this video.  Surprise, surprise.

It was only a matter of time (and not too much at that) before a mainstream (business) publication would “accidently” run the LEAF out of juice. The reporter, once aware of the fact that limited range was available (in her words – “about 20 miles out”), she says “it was too late to do anything about it”. She goes on to say “Just keeping up with the traffic flow, where everyone was going at least 65 on the highway, killed the battery”. The fact that she made zero attempt to “stretch” her fuel economy shows the true intent of the story. Somehow, we think that if she were driving a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, and was on the verge of running out of petrol, she might, perhaps, slow down. In this case, a high-profile publication wanted to be the first to publish the story, so they made it happen.

Our issue with this is that it is being reported as straight journalism. If your intent is to disparage, tell the audience that is your intent. Don’t mask it in “Oh my, I was out for a Sunday drive and look what happened!”.

This entry was posted in Driving Range, Industry News, Is the Nissan LEAF right for me?, LEAF 101. Bookmark the permalink.

6 Responses to Barron’s disses LEAF

  1. indyflick says:

    Many vocal conservatives have embraced a strategy of being diametrically opposed to any and all Obama administration policies, period. The Obama administration has proposed an initiative to get one million electric cars on America’s roads by 2015. Therefore, that conservative faction must oppose the electric car initiative (as well as other “highly controversial” initiatives such as anti-obesity & breast milk). So follow the money. Barron’s is published by Dow Jones & Company. Dow Jones & Company is part of the ultra conservative media company News Corporation. Of course Fox News is also part of News Corporation.

  2. stanley says:

    It is also purely coincidental that she had a cameraman with her to record the event. Apparently there were charging stations along her route that she could have used. One would think that she would have called whoever gave her the car to find out where they are located. It points out that Nissan needs to update charging sites on the Nav. system so that when she received the low battery warning(20 miles to empty) it could have directed her to a nearby station. Ofcourse that would have ruined her story.

    • indyflick says:

      Exactly! You are also correct about the Nav update. That is the only part of the story with any validity what so ever. My LEAF still shows no charging stations and yet every Nissan dealership in the area have Level 2 J1772 EVSE’s installed.

  3. Grant says:

    They are sitting there with the hood open to make it look even more ridiculous. Of course, they made no attempt to put it into eco mode (or look for a dealership where they could charge it) when they knew they were running low. Here’s the lesson for today: idiots should not drive electric cars.

  4. John P says:

    I have been driving a long time and have never ran out of gas. That is because when the tank is down to ¼ full, I stop and get gas. Ironically, on my way home from work last night, I say a guy in a pickup truck along the freeway, putting gas in his truck using a gas can from the tow truck behind him.

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