Spy Shot: 2016 Nissan LEAF

With the release of the 2016 Nissan LEAF still quite a ways off, one might not expect people to be so impatient that they’re taking pictures of suspicious-looking Nissan LEAFs at the company’s headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee… But that person would be wrong. 

Thanks to one particularly enthusiastic blogger, we now have a picture of what may very well be the (an early version of the?) 2016 Nissan LEAF. The giveaway in this case is the fact that the LEAF in question features a paint color that is unavailable for extant models but expected to become available for the 2016 model. Hmmm.

Electrek provides more information and commentary:

Nissan has been careful not to release too much information about the 2016 update of its flagship electric vehicle, the LEAF, most probably not to hurt the sales of its current model. Though we learned through information leaked from dealerships that Nissan should offer a bigger battery pack option for more range in the 2016 version. The new model is expected to arrive at the end of month like most 2016 cars, but we have yet to get an official launch date or see one in the flesh, until now…

Blogger JP White spotted a Nissan LEAF with a new ‘Forged Bronze’ paint job at Nissan HQ in Franklin TN (see picture above). Forged Bronze is not available for the 2015 model, but is expected to be for the 2016 version. The car also had “manufacturer tags”. Since the 2016 version is not expected to see any significant exterior design changes, this could very well be a 2016 LEAF and the first sighting of one in the US. Hopefully this means we are close to the launch because Nissan’s LEAF sales have been suffering lately ahead of the 2016 launch.

… Or it could simply be a 2015 Nissan LEAF with a paint color that’s currently unavailable to the great unwashed masses. It is the company’s headquarters, after all — perhaps it’s just a matter of someone getting a slight insider favor? It is a nice color, I admit.

We’re hoping it’s a 2016 LEAF. And hopefully we’ll have a lot more info on the 2016 LEAF soon — sales have indeed been suffering. In the meantime, we covered the rumors here: 2016 Nissan LEAF With 110-Mile Option? I’m Stoked!

2014 Nissan Leaf Domestic Content: Now Closer To Volt, Focus Electric

Last fall, we learned that the first year of U.S. production of the Nissan Leaf electric cars, built in Smyrna, Tennessee, had only 15 percent North American content.

This year, the numbers are somewhat better--and they bring the Leaf closer to the domestic-content percentage of other plug-in electric vehicles built in the U.S., including the Chevrolet Volt and Ford Focus Electric.

Per Nissan's official listings of American Automobile Labeling Act (AALA) content--as compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)--the 2014 Leaf has 35 percent North American content, along with 40 percent from Japan and 25 percent from other countries.

American Automobile Labeling Act sticker on a new 2014 Nissan Leaf [photo: Brian Henderson]

The local content numbers for other North American-assembled plug-in electric cars are:

• 2014 Chevrolet Volt: 45 percent N American, 19 percent Korea, 17 percent Japan, 19 percent other
• Ford Focus Electric:40 percent N American (2013 listing)
• Tesla Model S: 55 percent N American (2013 listing)

Some brief confusion arose earlier this month, when reader Brian Henderson noticed a pair of 2014 Nissan Leafs at his local dealer--one with the old 15-percent listing, the other with the new 35-percent number.

After investigating, Nissan's Brian Brockman wrote:

After looking into the two 2014 Leaf vehicles with different AALA information, it sounds like the vehicle with the 2013 data was simply labeled in error.

There is no difference in the content between the two vehicles. All model-year 2014 Leaf vehicles should have the new data.

So that one looks like a simple goof on someone's part.

Nissan says it is continually working to localize more content, where it makes sense. As domestically produced electric-car production rises, that percentage may grow.

How much difference does the percentage of North American content make when evaluating plug-in electric cars?

Source: Green Car Reports

Nissan starts 2013 Leaf production in UK, EV now made on three continents

Building the Leaf in Tennessee helped Nissan sell more of the all-electric car in the US in March than in any other month. The start of production in the UK, in Nissan's Sunderland plant, has been in the planning stages for a while and today's official start of production means the world's best-selling all-electric vehicle is now being made on three continents (since 2010, the Leaf has been made in Japan). The Sunderland plant was opened in 1986, and Nissan invested £420 million ($635 million US) so it can build the Leaf and its battery there. Nissan claims the expansion will, "support more than 2,000 jobs in the UK automotive industry," 500 of those at Nissan.

Global production isn't the only thing that's new. Sunderland will build the 2013 Leaf, which has (in the UK, at least) 100 updates, the most important of which are more range (now up to 123 miles) and a shorter recharge time (half as long as a first-gen Leaf took). The European Leaf also gets special suspension settings, "specifically tailored for European roads." We hope the button to engage this looks like cobblestones. You can read about the US updates to the 2013 Leaf here.

Show full PR text

• Improved model with more than 100 updates, longer range and quicker charging
• Announcement represents £420m investment in UK battery and LEAF production

Production to support more than 2,000 jobs in the UK automotive industry

UK Government thanked for continuing support and investment

Sunderland (March 28, 2013) – Nissan is today celebrating the dawn of a bold new era in European car manufacturing with the official start of production of the new and improved, 100% electric Nissan LEAF.

This new Nissan LEAF, incorporating more than 100 updates, is now rolling off the line at the company's record-breaking Sunderland Plant, using advanced lithium-ion batteries manufactured in Nissan's new UK Battery Plant.

Today marks the culmination of four years of preparation at the plant and a previously announced £420m investment by Nissan. Together the Battery Plant and Nissan LEAF production are supporting jobs for more than 2,000 people in the UK car industry, including more than 500 directly at Nissan.

Nissan's continuing innovation means the world's best-selling electric vehicle is now even better. The new LEAF for 2013 has more than 100 updates aimed at making Nissan's zero-emissions technology accessible to even more European drivers, including an increased driving range of 199km (123 miles) and the ability to recharge in half the time of the first-generation LEAF.

UK Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. David Cameron said: "Nissan's record breaking year last year is a success story for UK volume car manufacturing and demonstrates how our automotive industry is competing and thriving in the global race. I warmly welcome the production of the new electric LEAF model and battery plant at Sunderland. This £420 million investment, backed by Government, is supporting over 2,000 jobs in our automotive sector including more than 500 at Nissan in Sunderland, helping people in the area who want to work hard and get on.

"The Government has committed £400 million to make the UK a leading market for ultra low carbon vehicles. Nissan's announcement shows the confidence the company has in the skills-base and the business environment in the UK and that the UK is open for business."

This historic launch event comes as Nissan Sunderland Plant celebrates making more than seven million units since its opening in 1986. Last year it produced 510,572 vehicles and so became the first UK car factory ever to make more than half a million cars in one year.

Nissan's Executive Vice President Andy Palmer celebrated the official start of electric vehicle production with the 6,100 staff now employed on site. "Today's announcement progresses Nissan's unwavering commitment to zero emissions motoring.

"The Nissan LEAF is our most technically advanced car yet and the launch of this new model, built along with its batteries in Sunderland, is a huge boost not only for the plant but for British manufacturing. We have been showing that you can operate a world-beating plant in the UK for almost 30 years and the construction of the Battery Plant is a vote of confidence in the country's ability to support high-technology manufacturing."

"We could not have reached this point without the support and commitment we have enjoyed from Governments across Europe, especially the British Government, who are backing the car industry on manufacturing and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. I would also like to once again place on record our thanks to our many partners and their strong belief in zero-emissions motoring."

With more than 55,000 Nissan LEAFs on the world's roads today, and with two years of real-world zero emissions experience behind it, today's announcement marks the start of an exciting chapter for Nissan. The Nissan LEAF now is built in three locations worldwide: Sunderland, UK; Smyrna, Tennessee, USA; and Oppama, Japan.

The launch of three new grades, new interior trim, the addition of Nissan's Around View Monitor technology and new suspension settings specifically tailored for European roads build on the LEAF's unique driving experience. This new package gives customers in Europe a second generation zero-emissions car, before most companies have even launched their first electric vehicle.

Integrated on the same line as the best-selling Nissan Qashqai, the new LEAF is a major milestone in Nissan's global zero-emission leadership. In just 12 months, Nissan has increased the number of dealers selling the LEAF from 200 to 1,400 and the number of charging points in Europe has grown from 12,000 to more than 20,000, proving that electric vehicles are becoming increasingly attractive.

The new Nissan LEAF soon will be joined by all-electric versions of the award-winning NV200, to be called e-NV200, in both light commercial van and five-seat combi versions. Development of a dedicated EV taxi based on the e-NV200 is also under way. An Infiniti EV is expected in 2015.

COO “Disappointed And Frustrated” At Slow Nissan Leaf Sales

It is no secret that sales of the pure-electric Nissan Leaf haven’t been exactly earth-shattering. After an initial rush of enthusiasm, sales of the Nissan Leaf have tapered off substantially. This has left Nissan’s Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga feeling “disappointed and frustrated” with Leaf sales. Who can blame him? Nissan has reportedly sank over a billion dollars into developing and marketing the Nissan Leaf. Yet since hitting the international market in the last month of 2010, Nissan has sold just 42,700 units, almost half of those (about 19,000) in Japan. In the U.S. Leaf sales have topped 16,000, while Europe has seen just over 6,500 units delivered.

Sales are far off from initial projections. Nissan had expected to sell 40,000 Leaf EVs in 2012, but instead they have barely broached that number in two full years on the market. That has got to hurt, especially considering that Nissan has built a brand new factory in Tennessee with the capacity to build 150,000 Leaf EVs annually.

Speaking to a crowd gathered to hear Nissan’s mid-term sales reports, Shiga said, “Somewhere in the history of mankind, people will have to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy, and Nissan is assuming the risk to do it now. We were the first volume maker deploy EVs globally. Please don’t forget that we have this passion and a sense of mission.” 

Basically…we tried to do right by mankind, but turns out nobody wants to buy our innovative EV. All hope isn’t lost, as a 2013 Leaf is expected to be unveiled next month. With more range and a potentially lower price for entry, coupled with a new $199 a month lease, Nissan Leaf sales could rebound big time in 2013. If President Obama turns the $7,500 EV tax credit into a $10,000 on-the-spot rebate, EV sales could soar. Nissan even has a special task force dedicated to figuring out why Leaf sales aren’t living up to expectations.

But will it come in time to save the Nissan Leaf? While I think it is a little early to be writing off electric vehicles, it seems as though the market isn’t ready to start driving EVs on the scale Nissan imagined.

One has to wonder where we would be had Toyota's RAV4 EV and GM's EV1 been allowed to continue. Both are amazing vehicles that ended up utilizing NiMH batteries with ranges making the Leaf look puny. GM's EV1 was crushed (literally) after proving it could be a reliable, fun and fast car with a range up to 160 miles. The RAV4 EV is a sport utility vehicle that can be stretched up to 120 miles in pinch. Obviously, the reason the car was discontinued is due to the fact that oil companies could not allow it to continue. GM will tell you it was for other reasons but we all know the game at this point.

Did you know that Toyota RAV4 EV's are still on the road? Some are over 10 years old and can still get over 80-90 miles range. Think about that for a minute. A 10 year old electric vehicle using Panasonic NiMH batteries gets the same range as the superior lithium-ion battery (in most mind that is) found in the Leaf. 

Gee, we just cannot understand why more people aren't lining up to plunk down $38,000 for a compact EV obtaining 80 to 90 miles of range.

Source: The Truth About Cars

More hints about budget Nissan Leaf coming from Tennessee early next year

Despite current low lease rates, Nissan is ready to limbo the price of the Nissan Leaf lower, lower, lower.

According to Automotive News, Nissan is preparing to build a budget version of America's most popular electric vehicle in Tennessee when the company's plant in Smyrna begins to build the Leaf there. This is scheduled to begin in December for deliveries starting in March. AN says the new entry-level Leaf will be part of the car's 2013 model year facelift and could lose some features in the nav system and LED headlights.

We have long heard that domestic production would lower the cost of the Leaf – especially since the battery will be made nearby – but so far, Nissan is not talking about what, exactly, the new, budget-level price might be. Previous rumors – and they are just rumors – pegged the pre-incentive price at something between $26,600 and $31,500. Whatever the new price is, Nissan has previously said that it expects Leaf sales to double once Smryna production comes online.

Last month, Nissan sold 984 Leafs, an improvement from the 685 sold in August. So far, in 2012, Nissan has sold 5,212 Leafs, fewer than the 7,199 it had sold in 2011 by the end of September. The current entry price for the Leaf is $35,200, plus destination and without the federal tax credit worth up to $7,500.



Source: Autoblog Green

Nissan will double Tennessee workers for Leaf, battery-pack ramp-up

Nissan will almost double the number of workers at its factory in Smyrna, TN, within the next year in part to ramp up production of both Nissan Leaf electric vehicles and battery packs, HybridCars reports.

Nissan will add 1,300 workers specifically for the battery packs and for the Leafs, which will start being built in the U.S. later this year. The Japanese automaker has invested $1.7 billion upgrading the plant, which will include a 1.3-million-square-foot facility dedicated to making battery packs. In all, Nissan will employ about 6,000 at the factory by early next year.

With the improvements, Nissan's plant in Smyrna, about 25 miles southeast of Nashville, will be able to produce as many as 200,000 Leafs and 150,000 battery packs a year. Last month, Nissan sold 478 Leafs in the U.S., marking a sevenfold increase from a year earlier though down from the 676 Leafs sold in January. In 2011, Nissan sold 9,674 Leafs, slightly less than the company's target of 10,000 units for its first full year of U.S. sales.

2013 Nissan Leafs will roll off TN assembly line in December 2012 - VIDEO

You can learn a lot by reading the fine print.

Case in point: Even though Japan' March 11 quake disrupted construction of Nissan's Leaf production complex in Smyrna, TN, Nissan says there's no need to fret because the site's open-by-late-2012 timetable remains untouched.

What's late 2012? Is it October? November? Is it New Year's Eve? Evidently, "late" 2012 means December, according to the small text posted on the automaker's "Innovations II" commercial, which you can see after the jump. Looks like anyone waiting for those first made-in-the-U.S.-of-A.-Leafs has got another 14 months to hold steady.





Source: Autoblog Green

Nissan Leaf production to start in Smyrna by late 2012

Bill Krueger, head of Nissan's manufacturing and supply chain management, tells Automotive News that the March 11 quake in Japan disrupted construction of the automaker's Nissan Leaf production complex in Smyrna, TN, but says there's no need to worry because his team is working 'round the clock to stick to the automaker's open-by-late-2012 timetable.

Says Krueger:

We're still targeting to launch on time. It's too early to give up on meeting our original timing. We have just shy of a year and a half to make it up. We had people over there training when the lights went out. Production didn't happen for a month. That drove the training curve back. We're looking at work-arounds to try to accelerate the schedule now.

This means that, if Nissan can get back on track, the first U.S.-built Leafs will roll down the assembly line in Smyrna, TN in late 2012. Nissan says up to 150,000 Leafs will be built at Smyrna annually.



Source: Autoblog Green

Nissan Continues To Be Unable To Meet Demand For its All Electric Leaf

Nissan Motor Corp., struggling with the slow rollout of its Leaf electric vehicle, may face new allocation problems when it resumes taking now-frozen orders.

High demand for the car means Nissan is juggling planned output of 10,000 vehicles through March 31 against more than 27,000 orders in the United States, Japan and Europe.

Nissan has stopped taking orders and likely will be filling existing ones through the end of summer.

But the company hasn’t decided when the next round of orders will begin or what the allocation for various markets will be, COO Toshiyuki Shiga said. In the fiscal year starting April 1, Nissan will have capacity for 50,000 Leafs, but 17,000 will go toward orders already booked.

That leaves enough production for 33,000 new customers worldwide in the next fiscal year.

Nissan will resume taking orders sometime after “after we deliver enough volume to the first lot,” Shiga said in an interview today. And he conceded that balancing demand from different regions for the next fiscal year will be “a little tough.”

The 6,000 orders already placed in Japan are expected to be filled by the end of March. But completing U.S. deliveries will take longer -- fueling the ire of impatient customers there.

“I know that some U.S. customers are frustrated,” Shiga said. “But delivery is a little bit delayed because of shipping timing and deliveries to Japan.”

Leaf assembly lines will be added in Britain in 2012 and Tennessee in 2013.

Until then, the bottleneck will grow at Nissan’s Oppama assembly plant south of Tokyo, the only plant making the zero-emissions hatchback.

Shiga ruled out the possibility of bringing the Smyrna, Tenn., plant online earlier than scheduled to help alleviate the tight supply. Nissan can’t build the electric vehicles without their lithium ion battery packs. And construction of the factory making those, he notes, has just begun.

Source: Automotive News

Nissan Leaf Produvtion Rollout Begins at Oppama Plant

2011 Nissan Leaf EV

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. has started production at its Oppama facility for the all-new 100% electric, zero-emission Nissan LEAF, which is slated to go on sale in December in Japan and the United States, and from early 2011, in select markets in Europe. In November, the company will begin exports to the United States, followed by shipments to Europe in December.

Nissan LEAF will be produced at the Oppama Plant along with gasoline-engined models such as Nissan Juke and Nissan Cube. Part of the assembly line has been modified to mount the 24 kWh battery packs at the stage of production where fuel tanks are traditionally installed, and motors and inverters are mounted at the point where engines are installed in gasoline-powered vehicles.

Nissan LEAF’s lithium-ion battery modules are manufactured at the Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) operation in Zama, Japan, which is a joint-venture of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and NEC Corporation. The battery module, which contains 4 battery cells, are assembled at Zama and then shipped to the Nissan Oppama facility, where 48 of them are assembled into the electric car’s battery pack.

Sites for future production of Nissan EVs include Smyrna, Tennessee, in the United States and Sunderland, England, in the UK.

Nissan Celebrates Battery Plant Commencement In Tennessee

The hot, sweltering Tennessee sun baked us under a big white-top tent this morning as Nissan dedicated the future site of their $1.7 billion dollar, state-of-the art Nissan LEAF battery plant in Smyrna. Encompassing 1.3 million square feet (22 American football fields), when the plant comes online in late 2012 it will be one of the largest battery facilities in North America.

Tennessee’s Governor, Phil Bredesen, was on hand along with Daniel Poneman, the Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Energy and Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s CEO and President.

The plant will deliver batteries to Nissan LEAFs that are set to be assembled in the existing Smyrna vehicle assembly plant right next door. As the battery plant is constructed over the next year and a half, the vehicle assembly facility will be retooled to be able to add LEAFs into the production line alongside Altimas, Fronteras, X-Terras and Pathfinders. When all’s said and done, the battery and LEAF production will create an additional 1,300 jobs. Nissan expects that the full capacity of the co-located plants will be about 200,000 batteries and 150,000 LEAFs each and every year.

Until the Smyrna facilities come online, there will only be one plant in Japan supplying Nissan LEAFs to the world with a production capacity of 50,000 vehicles annually. That will all change in 2012, when the Japanese facility is joined by Smyrna and other plants around the world, including a couple in Europe. At that point the production capacity for LEAFs and other Renault-Nissan EVs will jump from 50,000 to 500,000 per year.

During a tour of the Smyrna vehicle assembly plant, we were told that Nissan will be able to maintain current production levels of all the vehicles they assemble there (the plant has actually been in continuous operation since 1981) and that the 150,000 LEAF capacity will be in addition to those.

In order to accommodating the special needs of assembling an electric vehicle, Nissan is using some serious creativity to make the inclusion of the LEAF alongside conventional vehicle assembly a virtually seamless endeavor. For instance, at the station where the fuel tank is normally brought in underneath a suspended vehicle, the LEAF will have its battery pack added. And at the station where the engine is brought in to the vehicle, the electric motor will be added. Other than that, the assembly of an electric vehicle is much simpler than a conventional one.

“Nissan is committed to affordable, sustainable mobility. What we’re doing here will radically transform the automotive experience for consumers. Today is a major step in helping create a green economy in the United States,” said Carlos Ghosn, president and CEO of Nissan. “Production of Nissan LEAF and lithium-ion batteries in Smyrna brings the United States closer to its goal of energy independence, creates green jobs and helps sustain American manufacturing. Nissan is a leader in global manufacturing innovation, and this state-of-the-art battery plant will strengthen that leadership.”

The battery assembly plant was spurred by a $1.4 billion, low-interest loan from the US Department of Energy as part of the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program.

Source: Gas2.0