Last week I took a ride in a friend's new Nissan Leaf, which may be the perfect urban car. It has adequate performance and can more than keep up with traffic, even on the interstate. It is essentially noiseless. Its range is limited, but more than adequate for trips around a city. It has a quite spacious storage capacity. Best of all, it's pollution free. The only thing that's missing is the "zoom."
What is zoom? It's a sleek, sexy body style -- maybe a coupé or convertible. It's the sound of an engine howling toward a 7,000 rpm redline. It's carving a corner and hitting the apex exactly. It's braking as late as possible while double-clutching to downshift, turning-in at the right point, and then maxing the exit speed. It's zero to 60 in less than five seconds. It's the thrill of pretending you're a racer. It's the ego trip of posing as a rugged outdoor 4WD dude. It's the promise of getting the girl. Until now, zoom is what has sold cars, but we don't need zoom any more.
My friend doesn't care about zoom. He doesn't do drag racing starts or road racing corners. He doesn't go off-road. He's married; he already got the girl a long time ago. What he wants is reliable, comfortable, economical transportation. Because he cares about ecological issues, a green car with low carbon emissions is a bonus. He's a good representation of an average car buyer, but he's ahead of the pack.
An all-electric car like the Leaf would serve a major segment of the population very well. Most people driving SUVs, pickup trucks, or large cars don't really need them. Their trips are short; they rarely have a passenger, let alone three or more; and they don't usually carry bulky or heavy loads.
An all-electric vehicle does have a limitation. Their range is usually roughly 100 miles round trip. If that's the longest round trip a person ever makes, or if a person is commuting less than 50 miles round trip and the rest of his or her trips are a few miles for groceries or other errands, then range is not a problem. If more range is absolutely a requirement, a hybrid may be a better choice. But, as a short-range urban vehicle, perhaps a second car, an all-electric vehicle like the Leaf may be the perfect choice.
Trust me, if I could still have my way I would still have my diesel Super Duty, my muscle cars, my motorcycle and my boat. But I guess I have to compromise with my wife. Atleast I still have my LOUD bike and a boat and am driving a new 4x4. Not too mention her CRV.
I think the Leaf is a great idea, just not while I'm living in Michigan. Then again if they could make an affordable electric 4x4 that meets the demands of a truck, I'd take a serious look.
Jay: You make a very good point - you also need to consider your geographic location when purchasing a vehicle. I don't think that you would have much success driving a Leaf in 12" of snow. My daily driver is a 2003 Toyota 4Runner (4.7L V8) which can handle practically any type of driving situation including 12" of snow. I mostly keep my Ford F150 Lightning SVT "muscle truck" in the garage because it only handles well on dry roads. However, I can drink my Miller Lite beers at home in any kind of weather.
* sigh * I can already hear the "tree huggers" yelling at me because I have not one but TWO vehicles with V8 engines. To them I say, "have a nice steak with your granola. It will actually make you feel better."
Bolaji: You say that you would never "admit to ogling anything but a plate of cheesecake". Is "cheesecake" just a euphemism, or do you really mean the delicious high-calorie dessert item?
Barbara: sounds like we could be fine friends! By the way, my cat says "hi" ... actually that's "meow".
I think the leaf is a perfect urban car if you don't have many miles to drive. Another limitation I ponder is how well will this vehicle handle the nasty winters? As a muscle car junkie, loud motorcycle riding person, I tried the economical approach of owning a Honda Civic for my commute. Great car, but I found that after a year it just wasn't for me. Especially while living in Michigan with the nasty winters and about 80% of the people driving SUV's or trucks. So I got a 2012 Honda Pilot. Sure I don't get the gas mileage for my commute, but I feel better and I can haul the boat, the dogs, and project materials without a second vehicle.
I feel the perfect city car should be affordable by many young crowd who move into the city. More to this the looks are very important to these young buyers and mixed with technology.
TimKarr--first, thanks for not taking my stereotying too seriously. Some of my best friends are beer-guzzling, muscle-car buying...you catch the drift :-)
Your point about "why not have fun?" is a good one. When my sister-in-law was debating the Jetta vs. Passat ages ago, I told her life is too short to drive economy cars (plus, she has a 40-mile commute.) She also has Sirius. I'll admit to envying her Passat from the broken window of my Jetta.
TimKarr2000, I never admit to ogling anything other than a plate of cheesecake but I am with you about the horsepower. My car must leave the competition quaking and not wheeze (silently or loudly) past anyone. And, if it's a truck, please make it a Ford, Chevy or GMC Suburban with lots and lots of horses under the hood. I want the speed when I need it and watching the sunset with a chilled bottle of beer or Scotch whiskey straight from the bottle, is, shall I say it, "Priceless."
Barbara: You've got your wish - I am part of the "beer-guzzling, muscle-car buying, women-ogling cat-hating snack food addict lobby". I like to sit on my front porch with some Miller Lites, my Burger King burgers and fries with my 2004 Ford F-150 Lightning SVT (5.4L V8) parked in the driveway while watching females in my neighborhood walk by. However, I do own a cat ... well, my wife does anyway.
In any case, I understand the "zoom factor" of a vehicle and would be willing to purchase an electric muscle car if it could give me that exhileration of stomping on the gas/electric pedal for a nice burst of speed. I refer to that as the "weeeeeeee factor". I mean who doesn't like that soft of excitement? Most Americans cannot live without a car to get from Point A to Point B, so why can't we have some fun getting there and be green at the same time? If Detroit can develop the car seen in the movie "The Dilemma" with Kevin James and Vince Vaughn (a Dodge Charger with an electric engine that sounds and performs like a true muscle car), then count me in! I will even promise to snuggle with my wife's cat once in awhile.
'It's the sound of an engine howling toward a 7,000 rpm redline."
A couple of years back I visited an Electric motorcycle designer in Milan, Italy. That guy has designed an electric sports motorbike ( 'ZOOM' style) and to make it sound like a real powerbike he had added computer generated engine sound to it. So even though the electric motor was noise less while accelerating, the controller generated sound matched that of the conventional power bike and gave the same thrill of driving to the young riders. Performance wise that motorcycle was matching the conventional bike.
May be NIssan Leaf designers can incorporate such sound simlations till the EVs are accepted by the general public on their real merits.
It is very interesting development. However, price is quite high and performance of electric car in -30C to -45C is very limited. They may soon evelove to overcome this deficiency and we eagerly await moe novel ideas.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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