Nissan Abandons Leaf EV Sales Target
Nissan Motor Co. tells reporters it won't hit its target of selling 20,000 Leaf electric sedans in the U.S. this year.
#hybrid
Nissan Motor Co. tells reporters it won't hit its target of selling 20,000 Leaf electric sedans in the U.S. this year.
Demand for the EVslumped 28% to only 5,200 units in the first nine months of 2012. The company's new goal is to sell 20,000 Leafs in the fiscal year that began in April.
Andy Palmer, the Nissan executive vice president in charge of global product planning, concedes the company has been "pretty lousy" at communicating with Leaf customers. He says the company has done a poor job of explaining to new owners that their cars' performance would vary depending on climate and driving conditions.
A group of Leaf owners in Arizona have griped that the car's range is diminished in hot weather. Last month Nissan announced the creation of a global advisory board to improve EV communications.
RELATED CONTENT
-
Chevy Develops eCOPO Camaro: The Fast and the Electric
The notion that electric vehicles were the sort of thing that well-meaning professors who wear tweed jackets with elbow patches drove in order to help save the environment was pretty much annihilated when Tesla added the Ludicrous+ mode to the Model S which propelled the vehicle from 0 to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds.
-
Internal Combustion Engines’ Continued Domination (?)
According to a new research study by Deutsche Bank, “PCOT III: Revisiting the Outlook for Powertrain Technology” (that’s “Pricing the Car of Tomorrow”), to twist a phrase from Mark Twain, it seems that the reports of the internal combustion engine’s eminent death are greatly exaggerated.
-
Electric Trucks Emerging
Rudolph Diesel—who, incidentally, died mysteriously while traveling by a post office steamer on the English Channel in 1913—must be rolling in his grave.