DEARBORN, MI – Nissan is comfortable in its market position with the Leaf electric vehicle and does not consider the upcoming Mitsubishi i EV a direct competitor.
“We’re a midsize, 5-passenger, 100-miles-of-range” EV, Mark Perry, director-product planning for Nissan Americas, tells WardsAuto on the sidelines of the Center for Automotive Research’s “Business of Plugging In” conference here.
Mitsubishi’s i, going on sale on the West Coast in December, is a “smaller package with a smaller range,” he says. “I’ll call it a city car, not to be disrespectful, but that’s kind of its role.”
While the public, and even some media, may be tempted to lump all EVs together, Perry says today’s offerings are as different as internal-combustion-engine vehicles of varying engine displacements and body sizes.
The Leaf rides on a C-segment platform, while the i is a B-car, and has an Environmental Protection Agency-approved 62-mile (100-km) range. The Mitsubishi EV has a 16-kWh lithium-ion battery pack and a 49-kW (66-hp) motor, while the Nissan entry has a 24 kWh Li-ion pack and 80-kW (107-hp) motor.
Serving as a panelist at the conference, Perry divulges some data about the people who purchased the 7,199 Leafs sold in the U.S. this year through September.
The image of an EV buyer may be one of an eco-conscious individual, but Perry says early adopters of the Leaf are well-educated and more technology-minded than green.
“The number of Ph.D.s who are driving Leafs right now just blew us away,” he says.
Also to Nissan’s surprise, the Leaf is serving as a primary car more often than expected. That’s not to say it is the only car in the household, but rather the preferred mode of transportation.
Leaf EV buyers also are financially well off. “From a household-income standpoint, I think they would qualify under the ‘wealthy category’ the (Obama) administration is trying to tax us all on now,” Perry jokes.
Nissan estimates U.S. Leaf drivers collectively are closing in on 1 million miles (1.6 million km) traveled since the car went on sale last December.
As expected, Leaf owners typically are driving 30-35 miles (48-56 km) per day, plus charging two-three hours per night, and 90%-plus have opted for the SL grade with the DC fast-charge (480V) option.
Perry announces here that Nissan is dropping the installation price of its 220V AeroVironment-developed home charger from $2,200 to $1,818 and soon will divulge the name of a big-box retailer that will offer the charger.
Overall, Perry says he is satisfied with the pace of Leaf sales but shies away from predicting where volume will be in the next couple years.
He does restate Nissan’s prediction that 10% of global vehicles sold by 2020 will be EVs. But he also says the pace of battery breakthroughs is the key to wider EV acceptance, as a bigger, more power-dense battery would allow driving beyond the current low ranges.
“That’s not in the cards for the next eight years,” Perry says. “You can (offer longer-range Li-ion batteries) today, but you can’t do it for $30,000. The willingness by consumers to pay premiums is fairly small.”
Other auto makers represented on the panel here, including Toyota and General Motors, believe the industry can build 1 million EVs by 2015. But to sell that many to U.S. consumers, as is President Obama’s goal, is questionable, officials say.
New-technology adoption often goes against best guesses, with GM’s Tony Posawatz, vehicle-line director for the Chevy Volt, noting an infamous 1980s McKinsey & Co. study that advised AT&T to forget about making cell phones because the market wasn’t big enough.
