In Part One I noticed that Nissan's sales of the Leaf were abysmal. 87 in January 2011 and 67 in February.
Now, we see that the used market will essentially disappear because the $20,000 battery pack only lasts six to eight years.
From The Hockey Schtick:
Another reason not to buy a Nissan Leaf: Resale value zip because batteries die within 6-8 years
If the unpredictable limited range, lack of charging stations, and painfully long (minimum 8 hours) recharging time wasn't enough to convince you not to buy the all-electric Nissan Leaf, the Wall Street Journal reveals today another blow that resale values will be hard to come by since the $20,000 battery pack dies within 6-8 years.Pull the Plug on Electric Car Subsides [paywalled]
Consumer Reports doesn't have good early reviews for Chevrolet's flagship entry into electric vehicles. A top editor from the publication said the Chevy Volt, which has both a plug-in battery and a gasoline engine "isn't particularly efficient as an electric vehicle and it's not particularly good as a gas vehicle either in terms of fuel economy." He concluded that it just "doesn't make an awful lot of sense."
He's right when you consider the cost and performance of PEVs, starting with the batteries, which require major breakthroughs before they will be ready for prime time. A battery for a small vehicle like the Nissan Leaf can cost about $20,000 and still only put out a range of 80 miles on a good day (range is affected by hot and cold weather) before requiring a recharge that takes eight to 10 hours. Even then, those batteries may only last six to eight years, leaving consumers with a vehicle that has little resale value.
Talk about leaving the consumer with a warm and fuzzy feeling...
