You Won't Believe How Much The Nissan Leaf Will Save You
When the all-electric Nissan Leaf will be available in Japan in December, buyers will be faced with a tough decision: Should I buy a Nissan Leaf for $40,000, and deal with range anxiety, or should I go with the $26,000 gasoline equivalent?
To which Nissan will answer: “The Leaf, of course. It will save you huge amounts of money.” How much? Are you sitting down?
After six years of Leaf ownership, you will have saved $361. That’s right. Threehundredsixtyone dollars.
What do you think the answer of the average Japanese buyer will be?
You guessed it right: “Hanashi ni naranai?” Why bother?
Come on, guys, “the price is reasonable if various factors, including running costs, are taken into account,” COO Toshiyuki Shiga told reporters at the Leaf’s unveiling in Yokohama.
Nissan supplies a handy chart, pictured above. You would have to shell out 3.76m yen, wait a few months to get 770,000 yen back in government subsidies, drive the car for six years at 1000km a month, hope the utility company will not raise electrical prices more than gas prices go up. Finally, the investment will put you ahead by 34,000 yen, or unbeleafable $361. If everything goes as expected. (And ignoring the fact that no self-respecting Japanese holds on to a car for six years. Before the first shaken rolls around after three years, they usually get a new one,)
$361 in six years, exhilarating ROI, ne?
You don’t think that’s appetizing?
Come on, nobody can do better than Nissan, they are the low cost producer in the game.
The Nikkei [sub] reports that “Nissan Motor will be taking an aggressive pricing stance on its Leaf five-seater electric vehicle slated to debut in December, backed by confidence in its ability to develop low-cost lithium ion batteries.”
According to The Nikkei, “Nissan has an edge over rivals in developing low-cost batteries, a key component that accounts for nearly half of the sales price. It costs the automaker about 1.54 million yen to produce a Leaf, compared with 2.28 million yen for Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s i-MiEV electric car.”
If that’s the case, kiss the i-MiEV sayonara. And the Leaf? It will appeal to the huge market that aims to save $361 over six years.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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I hate reading comments where everyone assumes Prius and Leaf drivers are going to be people who want it just to look cool and be smug about it. Many will be normal people who just want a high-mileage vehicle. My parents traded in their late-90s Sienna for a Prius a few years ago. They no longer needed to haul 7 passengers and all their cargo. They wanted gas mileage to be in the 30s at least, and they also wanted more luxury than a Hyundai would give. The Prius totally fits the bill. While they enjoy having it, they are not smug about it. It has faults, the most prominent being that it doesn't hide its economy car roots very well. Sure, fully loaded 2nd generation models come with a touch screen, nav, and backup camera, but the rock-hard seats have to be manually adjusted.
How come a guy at his house can buy a $8,000 or so yaris, versa, etc. and put an electric drivetrain in it that gets similar numbers as this new nissan? All for less than $15,000? I think it's a fashion trend. More of a statement than a real drive to improve/change the product line. Same goes with hybrids.