And (perhaps more importantly), what Living LEAF is not
Living LEAF is a source of information about the Nissan LEAF. Living LEAF is not a news organization.
The online electric vehicle (EV) media world (and beyond) has been turned upside down over the past couple of days due to a massive mis-communication blitz. A blogger reported that the Toyota RAV4 EV would not be available to the general public. Apparently the source was a Toyota executive. Apparently the Toyota executive mis-spoke. At least, at this point, this is what we believe to be true. We can’t verify, because the supposed source of the original article has now removed that article from their site (original source referenced in the link above).
It turns out that the RAV4 EV will be available to consumers. But many folks ran with the incorrect story. Some of these were large mainstream news organizations.
We here at Living LEAF see ourselves as a source of information, but we don’t see ourselves in competition with anyone. This is not even a commercial site. At least not at the present. But hobbies can turn into businesses. We’ve seen it happen.
In any case, one of the reasons that we started Living LEAF was to present factual information that we get from the source. Since we are not industry heavyweights, we do not enjoy a lot of clout. So we rely on press releases and the like, and much of what we publish is not what most would consider “breaking” news. Sometimes it’s been out there for awhile. Whatever “awhile” might be.
In addition though, we also publish opinion pieces. They are pretty recognizable as opinion pieces by the way in which they are presented. (At least we think they are recognizable as such).
A couple of other things, as long as we are moving along in this direction. I typically write using the collective (we). I am the only writer on the site with the exception of an article contributed by my wife when we first got our car. The reason I write using the collective we is that I think it reads better than saying me, mine, and I all the time. You don’t really care about me (that’s okay… I don’t take it personally). You care about your possible future LEAF experience, and wish to find out more about the car. So please indulge my (our) writing style that sometimes wanders back and forth between the two. I’m not trained as a professional writer, but I do read a lot (if that counts for anything).
Hopefully, you will continue to find the site useful, informative, and perhaps occasionally even entertaining. And I will still enjoy contributing to it and it will continue to exist for the foreseeable future. I do have a day job (which is why we generally do not publish an article every day). But I do try to find something useful to pass along, whether it is directly LEAF related, or occasionally just generally EV relevant, at least a couple of times each week. Sometimes I wish that I just had more time in the day.
And just so you know, I truly do appreciate those of you that read my humble little site, and leave me your comments. It lets me know that we are providing something of value.
I enjoy traveling to your site and read all of your articles. Thanks for your effort… 🙂
Tom – thanks for your kind comments.
Presently the only OEM whose EV strategy doesn’t appear to be vacillating is actually Nissan. Recently Toyota, BMW, as well as GM have all sent mixed messages regarding their EV strategies and roadmaps.
For example, Jim O’Donnell, the BMW’s North American chairman and CEO, said that EVs won’t work at their current battery range for at least 90% of the population and that the U.S. government should end the $7,500 EV tax credit. Jimbo had to walk back those comments in a formal press release.
Tom Stricker, Toyota VP Technical and Regulatory Affairs made the following comments in a talk I listened to last year…
– “Consumers are not willing to spend extra money for a plug in hybrid”
– “Toyota doesn’t think DC fast charging is relevant’
– “Goals of the Toyota PHEV program is education and out reach”
– “You hear a lot of 1M EVs in 2015. Because EV buyers are the same purchasers of hybrid you are cannibalizing the same market”
GM said no pure EV and then they developed a prototype EV for Korea and another for India. Even regarding the Volt. The Volt was to become a platform for other vehicles, such as the Cadillac Converj. Then the Converj was dropped, brought back, and dropped again.
indy – I don’t always keep track of what everyone is doing in the industry as well as I might. I appreciate your occasional input such as this. Thanks for your contributions.
Dear Ernie,
All I can say is that Living Leaf is part of my home page. Keep up the great work. I like you almost always balanced opinion. Your review of Car Wings is one such example.
Frank – I admit to being somewhat of a “fanboy”. But when there are “features” that really aren’t that beneficial, they become non-essentials that may not really add to the value of the experience. Thanks for the continued support.
I’ll “second” what Frank Twohy says, Ernie. Your posts are always informative, and seem to be objective. I appreciate that.
Thanks for the kind comments.
Thanks for yr wonderful websiite. I am a proud Leaf owner from HK. Keep up the good work. So much misinformation out there.
Manfred – Welcome to Living LEAF. And thanks for the kind comments.