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Ready to go green? The all new Nissan Leaf will be available in select cities in December 2010. The popularity of hybrids, deisel powered cars and other alternatives to gasoline has increased in recent years. Is it finally time for a cost effective all electric car? Will it be practical for the average consumer?

The advantages are many. Imagine never having to pull into the gas station again. Most electric and hybrid cars, including the Volt, can use gasoline when the battery dies. The Leaf never uses gasoline. It doesn’t even have a gas tank. This car runs on electricity only. You?ll never go to the gas station. You could be blissfully unaware of the current sky high gas prices. The downside of an all electric car has been one of the main impediments to widespread acceptance of these vehicles. When the battery runs out of juice, you can?t switch over to gas. This limits the range that electric cars can travel, which has inhibited their practicality. Nissan has solved most of the problem ? not perfectly for all situations, but certainly well enough for most consumers. The Leaf can go 100 miles on a charge. That?s more than enough for most people. The vast majority of drivers travel far less than 100 miles in a day. Most Leaf owners can drive as much as they need to during the day, and then plug it in overnight at home. So now you?re paying for electricity instead of gas, right? How cost effective is that? Well, at average electricity rates, charging the Nissan Leaf would cost under $3. That?s right ? that’s less expensive than a gallon of gasoline.

Imagine never having to pull into the gas station again. Most electric cars, including the Chevy Volt, do use gasoline when the car runs out of electric power. The Leaf doesn’t. This car runs on electricity only. You?ll never go to the gas station. You could be blissfully unaware of the current sky high gas prices. There is a downside, though, and historically it’s been a big enough problem to keep electric cars from becoming commonplace. When the battery runs out of juice, you can?t switch over to gas. In the past, limited range has kept electric cars from being practical. At last the problem has been addressed sufficiently for most drivers. The Leaf can go 100 miles on a charge. That?s more than enough for most people. Very few drivers travel more than 100 miles in a day on a regular basis. Most Leaf owners can drive as much as they need to during the day, and then plug it in overnight at home. But electricity is expensive too. How does it compare to paying for gas? Charging the Leaf would cost about $2.80 at average electricity rates. That?s right ? that’s less expensive than the price of one gallon of gasoline.

One major challenge comes in on long drives. During a long drive like a family vacation or a trip to a different state, a driver would have to stop along the way to charge the battery, which used to take hours if you could find a charging station. The Leaf’s navigation system can show you the locations of charging stations on your route. The Leaf’s battery can be charged up to 80% capacity in about half an hour at a quick charge station. That’s sufficient to make long trips practical. You can charge your car while you stop for a meal. If there are enough electric cars on the road it would be wise for restaurants and hotels to install quick charge stations.

Long drives have posed a challenge that until now has been insurmountable by many drivers. If you were driving from one state to another, you would need to charge your battery along the way. Nissan has added a navigation system that will show you charging stations along the way. The Leaf’s battery can be charged up to 80% capacity in about half an hour at a quick charge station. That’s sufficient to make long trips practical. You can charge your car while you stop for a meal. It even makes sense for restaurants that cater to long-distance travelers to install quick charge stations ? if there are enough Nissan Leafs on the road.

Most drivers should find this electric car practical in spite of the few remaining challenges.

Written by Hannah Valez San Bernardino Nissan Dealer San Bernardino Nissan Dealer

categories: cars,automotive,nissan,electric cars,leaf,honda,CR-V,toyota

For a reasonable number of years now, Toyotas Prius has been the chief hybrid vehicle in the auto industry and continues to stay unconquered in popularity and revenues in spite of the various competitive brands quite easily attainable. The trend in Europe, the US and a number of Asian countries like Japan and China has been increasingly shifting to absolutely electric brands and this industry has observed a colossal flood of financing from both the private sector and governments. But Toyota appears to be taking its own time while other car companies are plunging ahead with the inauguration of cars like the Chevrolets Volt and Nissans Leaf.

Toyota officially became the leading auto fabricator on the planet in early 2007, beating the US automobile giant General Motors, who had previously maintained the top spot from the early nineteen thirties. A car that once symbolized the taking over of Japanese cars in the US has fared really well in the new US Consumer Assistance Recycle and Save Act of 2009 or as more generally recognized, Cash for Clunkers. The payoff was given to vehicle buyers who were content to trade in select cars for new, more fuel effective, environmentally friendly automobiles. Toyota came out the leader with two of its models in the top three automobiles sold in this program, exhibiting the auto buyers confidence in Toyota as a green auto fabricator.

The Prius has perpetually been the incarnation of Toyotas dedication to engineering fuel-economical and environmentally friendly vehicles. The name is suitably adopted from the Latin word denoting in front and when it was inaugurated all through the globe in 2001, the Prius speedily became an symbol of the fresh generation of automobiles to come. Regular middle income households to Hollywood actors acquired the car as an demonstration of their zeal to the cause of a safer world. However, it took more than ten years after its development and original introduction to earn profits from this inventive project.

In the prevailing economic crisis, Toyota has had its average share of difficulties. In spite of ensuing deficit in the preceding couple of years, it has performed comparably better compared to other auto producers. However, in tumultuous days like these, Toyota appears to have adopted a guarded attitude to the new electric car technology and pay attention primarily on the top performing models, trying to squeeze as much as manageable out of the tested and accepted hybrid technology. Toyota has learned effectively from its many years of achievements in the automotive business and in spite of the fact that skeptics appear to worry that Toyota will falter when the technology ultimately becomes commercially viable, I seriously doubt Toyota has much to worry about.

The key obstruction in the commercial accomplishment of electric automobiles is the enormous transformation in infrastructure vital to support these cars. Electric cars can at present run sixty-five to seventy kilometers with no recharging, hugely limiting the travel distance. Additionally, there is no definitive charging technique in place, with several alternatives like plug in recharge and battery swap being worked upon. Experts gauge that it will take around ten to fifteen years before an acceptable support network is accessible for a large amount of these automobiles to be efficiently used for daily utilization.

The tale of the turtle and the rabbit would be a relevant analogy in this situation. In spite of Toyotas capability to introduce an electric car in a substantially tiny period of time, it has decided to take the safe road and pay attention to its important rank with present technologies. After all slow and steady did win the competition, and the race has just begun with the finishing line a long way ahead.

Toyota has been admired for its focus to a safer planet.

Honda has forever maintained a values system of economizing on diminishing resources and is respected as a maker of fuel-efficient models and motorbikes of many years. Its much sought after Civic Hybrid has long been a challenger of the number one hybrid vehicle Prius by Toyota, the biggest car manufacturer all over the globe. In a recent initiative to take advantage of the prevalent favorability of eco friendly cars and to control the hybrid industry, Honda has brought in an innovative five-door hybrid. With hybrids averaging fewer than five percent of overall car sales, Honda has made the new car low-cost as it feels that affordability is a crucial element in the hybrids failure to increase ample market share.

Aside from cost, Honda is additionally focusing on developing its portfolio of hybrid models by the year 2012. These include the Insight, Fit, Civic and the sports CR-Z. In fact, because of the unexpected upsurge in demand for fuel-efficient automobiles, Honda has decided to launch the hybrid Fit nearly eighteen months before schedule, in an effort to profit from this situation. Honda has already observed substantial development with its hybrid brands in their local market, with the Insight to be the initial hybrid vehicle to achieve top position as the best selling vehicle in Japan.

Honda’s move to cut back rates was an appropriately timed one, with Toyota striving to negate its move due to average financial results in the previous financial year. Despite the fact that Toyota has retaliated to some level with the revelation of a revolutionary and low-priced gas-electric automobile based on the Yaris and Vitz, the latter being sold in Japan, it still stands to lose ground with its main hybrid the Prius. Hondas hybrid, the Insight, will be sold for a couple of thousand dollars less than the Prius and thats a carrot tough for any household to decline irrespective of how staunch they maybe to a special vehicle maker. A probable price war might prove favorable to both the auto buyer and the automotive sector.

Another major strategy being displayed by Honda is shifting the auto buyers idea of hybrid makes by promoting the application of hybrid technology in smaller and mid sized vehicles versus SUVs and bigger sized vehicles, a methodology being endorsed by other car producers. The technology works finest for a stop and go drive and Honda believes that the genuine usefulness of this technology is recognized by utilizing it for practical as opposed to recreational reasons. With the capacity to work 60 miles per gallon, the new Honda hybrid promises to be an immediate success with commuters struggling to limit fuel expenses.

In terms of research Honda is exploring other technologies to confirm long lasting success and leadership in the worldwide hybrid business. Honda is one of the earliest automobile companies to introduce fuel-cell vehicles and has carried on its promotion of this concept. Fuel cells are thought of by many as the ultimate answer for a clean and endless supply of energy for automobiles, without forfeiting performance. Honda is also searching for methods to supply more productive engines, a crucial element in the triumph of every hybrid vehicle.

In spite of Hondas need for more development it has been able to remain ahead in the progressively important hybrid automobile segment. As one of the top and innovative developers of expertise associated to clean and fuel-efficient vehicles, Honda has selected a multipurpose plan to improve its place in the automotive business. A desired revolution in customer perception by manufacturing smaller sized and inexpensive hybrid vehicles, while persistently improving performance will inevitably earn it the desired top spot.

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