Nissan Leaf is losing ground to its hybrid competitor the Chevy Volt. In fact, some report that Volt has been kicking Leaf's butt -- or at least blowing Leafs off of the lawn?
So Nissan has decided to take on Volt the old-fashioned way: with a TV spot that CNET featured this morning and that will air on June 12 during the NBA Finals.
Imagine a world where all our appliances are gas-powered and you've got the world Nissan wants us to think we live in.
The ad is funny, inventive, even a little steampunk.
While it's message is delivered in a tongue in cheek manner, it is also a little disingenuous. Most of your all-electric Leaf mileage will be powered by dirty coal.
Nevertheless, its a spot that will no doubt have people talking, much like last year's Polar Bear ad.
Earlier today I helped Stuart Varney on FOX Business answer a question from a viewer about the cost to charge an electric car versus a gasoline-powered engine.
The bottom line is, electric vehicles will be cheaper than gas.
The New York Times reported on the US Energy Department's prediction that the price of natural gas and electricity will be low over the next quarter-century, and crude oil will become more expensive but not radically so, contradicting some widely held notions: The Energy Future Ain't What It Used To Be
The myth of China’s switch to so-called clean energy has been "blown right out of the water," according to research by HSBC Bank: China's Coal Rush
One of our favorite green bloggers, Shari Shapiro, sheds light on the green impact of the stimulus: It's the Economy, Stupid
Kleiner Perkins debunks rumors that they are getting out of the greentech investing business. Greentech Media reports the firm made an investment in home energy efficiency player OPower as part of a $50 million round (along with Accel and NEA), and has joined Google Ventures investing in solar SaaS firm Clean Power Finance.
Finally, Heidi Moore, our favorite self-professed "handmaiden to capitalism," pointed us to this hilarious Xtranormal video about the plight of reporters faced with PR agents from hell:
How many of you caught this Nissan LEAF polar bear commercial during last night's Saints-Vikings game? I know some environmentalists will hate this, but I think it's very clever.
Tesla Motors will have its IPO today. The Nissan LEAF electric vehicle sold out shortly after it was announced, many of the orders coming from first-time Nissan customers. The Chevy Volt may even hit the showroom later this year.
It certainly seems as if the age of the electric car is upon us. But hold on a minute. Let not all the hype keep us from seeing the speedbumps -- and maybe a few roadblocks in the way of a complete transition on our roadways.
Don't get me wrong, I believe the battery electric vehicle (or BEV for short) is the vehicle of the future. But this new generation of electric vehicles will have lots of challenges, including battery technology, range, and charging.
Let's take range. Today, we are used to driving 300 miles or so before having to pull into a gas station and, after inserting our credit card, choosing the grade, and popping the nozzle in the tank, we can be refueled and ready to go before we've had a chance to clean the windshield.
Contrast that with the currently planned charging experience for electric vehicles. Drive 100 miles and you need to charge it -- the LEAF will take 8 hours for a full charge at 200 volts -- and there is currently very little infrastructure to support electric vehicle charging.
You can get around this by increasing the number or density of batteries in a vehicle, which will add weight and cost, but as battery technology improves the weight and cost, life and range will increase.
Charging, however, still remains an issue. I'm concerned about the vision of the future that imagines hundreds of thousands of charging stations around the country, in cities, parking garages, and on-the-street parking (perhaps replacing the meters that have gone the way of the parking kiosk). That seems like an awful lot of infrastructure needing to be built.
And what about that volatile mix of bad weather and high voltage. Imagine the housewife, parking in the Whole Foods lot, plugging in while she goes in for groceries. She comes out, and some idiot parking next to her has dislodged the plug. Not only does she not have the charge she needs to go pick up Junior from day care, but now she's dealing with a live wire on a wet macadam. Doesn't sound like the way to go to me.
I've even seen plans for "battery replacement stations" where you drive in and your old battery is swapped out for a new one -- the batteries are on a huge circular conveyor. The Pep Boys, Manny, Moe, and Jack, are probably salivating at that prospect. But that doesn't seem feasible to me.
Which is why I was encouraged by this video from the UK-based HaloIPT of an alternative future featuring wireless, dynamic charging based upon inductive power transfer technology.
Momentum Dynamics, a Malvern, PA-based company I've written about before on this blog, also has a technology that may help advance the vision depicted above.
As Andy Daga, CEO of Momentum Dynamics said to me recently, the battery electric vehicle industry "Needs three things: improved battery technology (this is coming), improved vehicle integration of new technologies (also in the works), and finally, improvements in the technology and distribution of charging technology."
Of course, that is what Andy and his company are focused on, and which he feels "is absolutely critical to the industry."
I hope for the sake of the electric vehicle market that the Tesla IPO ($TSLA) goes well. I have concerns that, like $AONE, it will go from 0 to 60 and come to a screeching halt, like, well, a Tesla Roadster as it approaches a speed trap. (That won't be good for future cleantech IPOs -- some companies have already pulled their plans this year).
But I have larger concerns that we are ignoring the looming issues facing the electric vehicle industry that may well prevent it from going the distance.
