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Nissan has accumulated about 13,000 orders for the 2018 Leaf in the US, Engadget reports, citing a conversation with Nissan during the 2018 Detroit Auto Show.
The 2018 Leaf entered US production in December, and deliveries are expected to begin en masse early this year. While it's also built in Japan, US-spec Leafs are built right here in the ol' US of A -- Smyrna, Tennessee, specifically.
This swell of demand means that Nissan is doing something right with the Leaf's redesign. Whereas the last Leaf was a bit too futuristic for my tastes, the new one fits right in alongside the rest of Nissan's recently refreshed rides.
Source: CNET
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2018 Nissan Leaf Touts a Claimed 13,000 Preorders
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There will be big changes for you but you will be happy.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by RedBear on Tuesday January 23 2018, @05:03AM (2 children)
A lot of people are still pissed at GM killing the EV1 around the turn of the millennium, and setting back the progress of the EV revolution by at least half a decade. They forcibly rounded them all up by refusing to extend the leases and refusing to allow the owners a purchase option, which many would have taken advantage of. Then they lied that they wouldn't destroy them all, and proceeded to crush all but one or two that were saved for museums. This was all documented in the film "Who Killed the Electric Car?"
It was one of the biggest PR debacles in GM history, and even 20 years later a surprising number of people still remember and aren't interested in rewarding GM by buying their EVs now that they are finally starting to come around.
On the other hand, Nissan made a real effort to build an affordable EV, and it's been on the global market selling in high numbers (relatively) for years before the Bolt existed. It's still difficult to get a Bolt outside the US. Nearly every Leaf owner loves the Leaf, describing it as a solidly built vehicle similar to a sixth generation VW Golf, a very popular vehicle. A lot of Leaf owners just want a new Leaf with more range.
There are a ton of people who wanted to buy a Leaf for years and were just waiting for a new version with enough range to fit into their driving requirements. So, even in the face of more EVs on the market with greater range now, it's not too hard to understand why Nissan was able to pull in a few thousand preorders from people who were already planning on buying the car anyway. It makes perfect sense to me given what I've seen in the world of EVs and EV fans over the past decade.
¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 23 2018, @05:18AM (1 child)
GM learned their lesson with the Corvair. They built a car that was "different" and product liability lawsuits came fast, by the hundreds, although the Corvair I had was a perfectly good car. While many liked the EV-1, all it would take was an accident or two and the ambulance chasers would be all over GM. Safest thing in this hostile legal climate was to get rid of most of the EV-1 cars.
The other thing about the EV-1 is that, while it was as good as it could be with the battery tech of that era, lead acid batteries just don't cut it for ev use. Too heavy and not much range, unless driven very carefully.
(Score: 1) by bobthecimmerian on Wednesday January 24 2018, @11:51AM
The early Corvair rear suspension design was such that if you swerved suddenly it would 'buck' and your risk of a rollover was substantially higher than it was for other similar size cars. So the problem wasn't "It's different", the problem was "It's less safe even than other similar size cars of the same period". After the lawsuits started coming GM fixed the rear suspension design, but by then it was too late - sales dropped because of the bad reputation.
I really don't think fear of lawsuits was the problem with the EV-1, or they never would have built it. I think there must be some other story - like they made a deal with some senator to get some legislation they wanted in return for investing in electric cars, and they fulfilled their end of the bargain and then ditched the program.