Nissan Leaf Battery Pack Reportedly Costs $9,000 US

Nissan Leaf Battery Pack








It is being reported that the Nissan Leaf lithium ion battery pack costs $9,000. Since the entire pack has a capacity of 24 kWh's, the price per kWh is $9,000 / 24 = $375. We were not supposed to see these low figures until 2015 or thereabouts. It was estimated ten years ago that mass producing NiMH batteries (like the ones used in the Toyota Rav4 EV) would equate to $250 per kWh. At these prices, the Federal Tax rebate alone can pay for the battery pack, which makes the EV comparable in price to similiarly sized internal combustion vehicles.

The Times Online claims that the LEAF battery pack costs about £6,000 British to build. At today’s exchange rates, this equates to roughly $9,000 US dollars. To give you an idea of just how low this figure is, a few years ago prices of $1,000 per kWh were being bandied around. Today, the industry average is about $650 per kWh. Industry analysts have said that they expect battery prices to drop faster than previously thought, but that it would still likely be 2015/2016 before battery prices were $325 per kWh. If Nissan’s battery is being built for $375 per kWh now, that means Nissan is about 5 years ahead of the industry average.

The more batteries they make, the faster the price will drop as the economies of scale kick in. We feel that if the auto companies build them, the customers will come.


Source: Gas2.0

French Government to Order 50,000 Electric Vehicles

The All-Electric Fluence Z.E.









These are the headlines that truly make a difference. The French Government is making a huge statement by putting their money where their mouth is. Instead of droning on about the need for alternate energy transportation, the French are kick-starting the industry by placing this massive order. The United States should take note and then order 100,000 vehicles! I would much rather see Congress spend a trillion on making its fleet run on electricity rather than bail out evil banking institutions.

From Gas2.0:

The objective of a government is to lead, though the exact definition of “leading” has always been up for subjective interpretation. Whether that means leading in an Orwellian sense, by controlling every aspect of your life, or by simply providing the bare necessities to stave off anarchy, government is essential on at least some level. Personally, I think if the government expects the citizenry to act responsibly, they should lead by example.

So I give big props to the French government, something I rarely do. The French government has announced that it will purchase an astounding 50,000 electric vehicles for government fleet use over the next few years. Talk about putting your money where your mouth is.

Actually, they haven’t really put any money on the table yet for these cars, so I’m jumping the gun a bit. And it isn’t like France is the first government to announce such support for electric vehicles. Plenty of governments are going out of their way to make buying an electric car easier on the wallet. Here in the U.S. we have a $7,500 tax credit for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, as well as state incentives. Ireland is providing a tax credit of its own, placing lots of charging points across the country, and placing a sizable order of electric vehicles itself. But France seems to want to take the lead on electric vehicles, and is working with 20 corporations to fill out its order form.

I expect most of the electric vehicles will come from the Renault-Nissan alliance. After all, Renault is a French company, and Renault-Nissan already announced deals with other countries like Ireland. Still, 50,000 electric vehicles would replace a large chunk of the French government’s fleet, and while the intial cost might be staggering, I think France will find more than enough money saved on maintenance and fuel. They are also offering a $6,600 tax credit for electric vehicle buyers through 2012. I just hope France plans on installing enough charging points to handle the extra burden of electric cars.

Let’s just hope France follows through on this commitment. It might convince more than a few fence sitters that electric is the way to go.

VW Discloses Big Plans For Electric Vehicles in the Near Term

VW Blue E-Motion Electric Golf










VW has gone from the sidelines of the electric car revolution to the front of the pack, albeit a tad late. As we know, there will be many EV's and PHEV's in showrooms yet this year but Volkswagen is now announcing they will have at least three models by 2013. That is jumping into the fray with a big splash. We cannot wait until the time comes that we will be able to walk into any showroom and at least have one alternate energy vehicle to choose from.

From Gas2.0:

Over the last year we’ve seen and heard rather vague hints of Volkswagen’s strategy when it comes to electric cars, including the debut of their Up! City car last year in Frankfurt and then indications that it would be released at some point in the future along with another larger electric car meant for general use.

In the last couple of days, however, Volkswagen has presented a solidified plan for their ambitious electric vehicle rollout, and it appears that 2013 is the big year for VW plug-ins. It will start with the introduction of a production version of the Up!, followed by an electric Golf and an electric Jetta later in the year. The vehicles will see near simultaneous rollouts in Germany, North America and other key markets (presumably most of Europe).

All of VW’s new plug-ins will be labeled with the ‘Blue-E-Motion’ moniker to set them apart from their non-electric ilk. Details are sparse right now, but apparently the Golf Blue-E-Motion will be based on the current sixth generation Golf (Mark VI as it’s known in the industry) and will have an in-house designed “single-gear” gearbox driving the front wheels powered by a 115 HP electric motor mounted in the front.

The whole system will get juice from a 26.5 kWh lithium ion battery pack that VW is saying will provide a range of 93 miles. As with many of these new plug-ins, the battery pack is mounted underneath the floor of the car to keep the center of gravity low. Although the Golf Blue-E-Motion is a bit of a porker at 3,406 lbs., VW says that it will still get from 0-62 mph in under 12 seconds and have a top speed limited to 87 mph. 500 prototypes of the electric Golf will be built for a internal testing in 2011.

No news on the the electric Jetta yet, but in the past VW has stated the tiny Up! city car will be equivalent in size to a Smart ForTwo and have an 18 kWh battery, an 83 mile range, a 0-60 time of 11.3 seconds, and a top speed of 84 mph.

I’ll be watching intently to see what kind of price points these cars have when they go on sale in 3 years. By then the Nissan LEAF, Volt and Mitsubishi i-MiEV will have had lots of time to get their toes wet in the EV market and battery prices should be steadily declining.