[I have updated that post http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Lower-cost-Leaf-S-trim-tp4660579.html to include the following link that points to a Press Release with a little more trim detail http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/presskits/us-2013-nissan-leaf-press-kit ]
The price reduction is about $6k which is not bad at all http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/money/auto_news/auto_show/nissan-drops-the-price-of-their-leaf-all-electric-vehicle-by-6000 However, I would have wanted even more cost reductions to get rid of the unnecessary fluff and puff, and get down to a basic driving machine with a focus on the best bang for the buck (with an eye to maximize range). Perhaps that will be a LC trim (for Low-Cost). [Side-bar: having a bare-bones/lowest cost model is nothing new in hi-tech. Way back when hp's mainframes had whole 2'x2' boards for portions of the CPU (before everything on a chip took over), a system could consist of three huge bays. When customers constantly asked for a low-cost model that also took less of a computer room space, hp came out with the 3000 LC (for low cost).] My reason for mentioning the above history lesson is that how many times does it take for customers to ask the manufacturer to do this or that, before they start to listen?!? Perhaps the Leaf forum members can develop their own model packages, with the option to add missing items at an added cost (I am pretty sure Toyota is lurking there). Not having that more aggressive regen B mode in the S trim seems dumb/lame. As Evan posted, it likely is only a software thing. When I saw that the cruise control had been dropped off, at first I thought that too would reduce range. EV1 drivers had long proven that setting their EV1 to constant 60mph was just fast enough to reduce flying-eagles, yet slow-enough to have an even better low aerodynamic drag coefficient. But when I did some research on cruise control and mpg, it seems the pontiffs think cruise control does not help. Perhaps it is my Big-Heavy-17EEEE-Foot that rests on the accelerator, constantly changing from a little too-much to not-enough, that wastes amps. I also would have wanted that huge on-board infotainment system removed. The way they implemented it, it is of little use (their EV Charger finder is woefully out-of-date = useless), and frankly, anything it can do, a smart/web-enabled cell-phone/hand-held can do cheaper and better. So, yank the costly boat anchor out of the center console, put in some plastic to fill the hole with a cradle for a cell-phone/hand-held and let the buyer get their own junk. For me, I would be carrying with me a smart/web-enabled phone anyway that likely has an app for just about anything I could want, including entering coordinates of the next charge point from recargo.com into the sat-nav, while playing tunes or streaming a video to watch while I L3 charge. {brucedp.150m.com} - On Tue, Jan 15, 2013, at 07:37 AM, Cor van de Water wrote: > Simple - the heat pump is expensive (essentially a more complicated > AirCo, > which can cool as well as heat the interior) so keeping the standard > resistive heater is cheaper. > Many non-performance related stuff costs nothing (software functions) so > that is truly a marketing choice whether to keep or strip out those. > As soon as more hardware is required (extra radios or computers) then it > is clear that a low priced model will likely not have those, unless the > alternative (removing them from a standard package) costs more. That is > likely the reason that all models will get the 6.6kW charger (new > standard and it costs more to develop or keep the old and new alongside > each other). - > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Peri Hartman > Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 7:24 AM > To: 'Electric Vehicle Discussion List' > Subject: Re: [EVDL] EVLN: Lower-cost Leaf S-trim > > Good that they will have a lower priced model. I'm sorry to hear it > will > not include the heat pump system. > > It seems they would sell the most vehicles if they striped out all the > non-performance related things but keep things like the heat pump. At > least > the base model will have the 6.6kw charger. Well, I'm not a marketing > specialist... - -- http://www.fastmail.fm - Access all of your messages and folders wherever you are _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
