Asked today at the annual results conference in Yokohama whether he wants to back off from his old target of putting 1.5 million EVs on the road by 2016, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn displayed an astounding degree of determination. He still believes in the 1.5 million. Maybe a little later than 2016.
So far, Nissan sold 62,000 Leafs. In the last months, Ghosn observed “an acceleration of the sales of the Leaf.” The people who bought the battery-operated car are happy, says Ghosn.
Happy owners spread the word “that this is a good car, and that charging the car is not such a big problem – if you know where to do it.” Ghosn banks on a better charging infrastructure, and he sees good signs of one in many countries. Says the man:
“This range anxiety, which is more a charging anxiety, will disappear and will help a lot to increase the sales. I maintain the 1.5 million. I think it will be difficult to reach in 2016, but without any doubt it’s still on the radar screen.”
And I still see myself dating Kate Upton, but that will never happen either!
Optimism is nice, but insanity is embarrassing.
I’ve never thought about it before, but I’d say maybe 500k Leafs deployed by the end of 2016 would be pretty good.
Public charging infrastructure doesn’t matter much for the Leaf, since I’ll bet most people charge at home anyway. I’ve only drawn a few miles from a couple of public chargers over 7 months’ time, and I didn’t even need them. The Leaf’s range is too short to necessitate public charging, since nobody will take it on the road in 50-70 mile increments.
The Model S actually has much more need for remote chargers due to its long range. This seems non-intuitive, but when you know you can drive 200+ miles on a charge, you start thinking about more distant destinations.
I can’t remember where I saw it, but I’ve heard that Chevy Volt users use public chargers at a much higher rate than Leaf owners. Extended range allows people peace of mind to make all sorts of trips when they’re not totally dependent on the relatively scarce and time-consuming chargers. What if a charger is busy or not working for any reason? A long-range Tesla or Volt can handle an off-the-cuff 50-mile trip into the city without requiring a detailed itinery of charging points and charge times. You’ll still seek out the public charger, but you’re more likely to take the trip in the first place if you know you can get home if something unexpected comes up.
Keep dreaming Mr.Bean
EVs are a failure pushed by eco-hippie globalist governments so they can give kickbacks to their friends in the environmental industry. Mark my words, EVs are a fad and petroleum is hear to stay, especially with tech like fracking finding oil that (surprise!) eco-nannies said didn’t exist.
Oh yes the EV deniers. I’ve noticed even TTAC is starting to be less rabid. EVs are here to stay and while I agree, I think Ghosn’s estimate is a bit too optimistic it won’t be far off. Say 2020-2022? The prius is in it’s 3rd generation and Toyota is selling them well. The Volt/Leaf are still gen I and generally a new product. They’re actually selling comparative to the price point and size.
I don’t know if folks live near the super-stations I see now but I was talking with a regional manager about why they’re all so huge, 18-24 pumps and even during rush hour they’re at best half full. He was saying it’s all part of an effort to become charging stations in the next decade or so. Being a small cafe to chill out at for 20-30 minutes while your car picks up enough charge to go on. The stations see it coming. I think flyover country will be resistant the longest but I see the coasts adopting it now slowly and fully integrated by 2020.
Bear in mind that hybrids have no range limitations like a pure EV – that’s a big deal. Cars like the Prius have enjoyed success once people figured out they could just put gas in them and drive them like regular cars.
Battery technology still holds back EVs from totally care-free driving, and it’s not developing much at all.