Lets start out by pointing out the differences. The Leaf is an entirely electric car with a stated range of 100 miles while the Volt is a plugin hybrid that has a range of 40 miles on battery power and then it can turn on a gas engine to power it for another 300 miles. The Leaf costs about $10 thousand less than the Volt. They both qualify for the $7,500 federal rebate, but the Leaf also qualifies for a $2,500 rebate in California (bringing total price close to $20 thousand) – the Volt does not.

Both can be leased for the same amount, $350 per month. The Volt requires an extra $500 down ($2500 compared to $2000) to get that lease payment and GM is subsidizing the rest.

So which one should you buy? It depends (doesn’t it always?). As an owner of the Leaf you would still need another car to drive for those trips where you travel further than 100 miles. The Leaf would essentially be a commuter car (assuming your round trip commute is less than 100 miles). The Chevy Volt is a car you can use to replace your current car. After those 40 miles are up you are just using gas that you can get at any gas station around.

I suppose it comes down to finances, can you afford to spend $20 thousand on an extra car when another 10 would allow you to replace your car entirely.

“We have 13,000 orders in the US and 6,000 orders in Japan,” Ghosn said at a news conference in Detroit, the US auto industry capital.

Ghosn said that all of the US orders had come from individuals and not from government entities, whereas some orders in Japan were for municipal fleets.

“I don’t think we’re going to have a problem marketing and selling these cars for the first two or three years,” the Nissan president and chief executive said, adding that tax incentives had made the car very popular in California.

The Leaf — an acronym for Leading, Environmentally Friendly, Affordable, Family — is billed by Nissan as the world’s first mass-produced electric vehicle with zero emissions.

The car will start being delivered in December of this year for Japan and the US.  European countries will start deliveries a few months later.  It will be assembled in Tennessee for US deliveries and Yokosuka for Japan.  No word yet as to which factory will supply European deliveries.

Nissan’s Land Glider electric vehicle tilts from side to side, allowing the car, still an experimental concept model, to sway and swerve, almost like a motorcycle.Nissan Motor Co. project design director Takashi Nakjima says Land Glider is designed to be a “personal city commuter.” The Land Glider has sensors to calculate speed and level of lean required for corners, and can maneuver through narrow streets and fit into tight parking spaces, according to Yokohama-based Nissan.

Nissan credits “strong initial demand” for the decision, saying that nearly 22,000 people in North America have contacted the company since the car’s unveiling in August. The five-passenger hatchback is expected to be priced between $28,000 and $35,000 before any government incentives. The Leaf is due to hit showrooms in late 2010.

Those who wish to place a reservation for the Leaf can visit a dedicated Web site.

The demand for the Leaf appears to be strongest in the western states. Nissan listed San Diego, Tucson, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon, as areas of high demand for the car and noted that the cities “are among the first markets where Leaf will be available globally.” More

Most people, especially the blind, can hear cars coming from a long way out and know to stop before they have a chance to look.  If the car is powered by an electric motor and uses only batteries then it doesn’t make nearly as much noise as their gas powered brethren.

To alleviate this concern Nissan has announced that it will add a sound effect to the car while in motion so that it also has a distinct sound.  Early reports are that they are going to use an effect very similar to the one used in Blade Runner.  So now we know how all those cars in the future make all those neat sounds.

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.

“Just as leaves purify the air in nature, so Nissan Leaf purifies mobility by taking emissions out of the driving experience,” the company said.

The car will go on sale in 2010.  They hope to sell 50,000 in the first year of production and up that figure to 100,000 by 2012.  It will be available in Japan and certain US markets the first year it’s available.  Nissan hopes that the numbers will help to sell the car.  A top speed of 90 mph, a recharge time of 30 minutes at quick charge stations, and 207 of ft-lb of torque.

Nissan expects the car to cost about the same as a c-class sold in Europe (that’s compact).  That puts the price range at $28,000 to $35,000, not cheap – but about the same as the Chevy Volt.

Nissan plans to unveil the new EV on August 2, coinciding with the opening of their new headquarters.

Nissan Tiida

We talked earlier about Nissan doing R & D on electric vehicles.  It seems they are further along than any of us predicted.  They have been keeping a tight lip about their EV program – until today.  Nissan showed the world a prototype EV built into their Tiida compact already on sale.  The exterior will be revealed on August 2, at the grand opening of their new headquarters.

Nissan has already commited to selling an EV by next year, meaning that the design and testing of the new car must be well down the line.

“Nissan will be a leader in zero-emission vehicles,” Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga said ahead of a test-drive event at the automaker’s facility in this Tokyo suburb. “EV is the answer.”

Nissan is targeting a production of 100,000 vehicles (per year) at their Oppama plant, that includes imports and exports.  After 2012, however, they plan to mass produce the EVs in numbers far surpassing the 100k mark.  To help with that Nissan is going to modify their Smyrna, Tennessee to produce EVs starting in 2012.  They have received a $1.6 billion loan from the department of energy to help pay for this modification.

The car will be full EV, meaning no gas/diesel motor to extend the range.  The vehicle shown today stores the batteries beneath the floor of the vehicle so that there is more room for passengers and luggage.  It has the usual recharging system built into the brakes, extending the range of the small EV to just over 100 miles.