The Leaf, Nissans first foray into the EV market is expected to have a range of 100 miles when it is new.  The Leaf uses rechargable Lithium-ion batteries, and like all rechargable batteries they lose some capacity over time.

Nissan is expecting, assuming that the average driver puts 12-15 thousand miles per year on the car that it will have a range of about 80 miles after five years.  That’s 60-75 thousand miles later.  Does that meant at 120-150 thousand miles the car will have a range of just 60 miles?

Adding insult, Nissan is likely fudging their numbers for the 100 mile mark.  Their testing relied on heavy city driving where braking (which will recharge the batteries) is frequent.

“Nissan has upped the ante of exaggerating the realistic range of their vehicle by using the LA4 cycle as the single number they quote, which is the same as what we refer to as ‘EPA City’, or ‘UDDS’ driving cycle. As you can see below, this test cycle assumes an average driving speed of 19.59 mph and in the 22 minute driving cycle, it assumes you only break 40 mph once, for about 100 seconds, and never exceed about 58 mph.”

So will consumers shy away from these all electric vehicles in favor of electrics with range extenders like the Volt?  I know I wouldn’t want to get on the highway and suddenly have my fuel tank drop in half.