All Things Electric ... Leaf, iMiEV, Volt
As ACDC moves into a new era of Electric Cars we have already ordered a new Nissan Leaf. For those of you that have been training with ACDC over the last 10 years you have heard me say many times "This is also your first class on EV cars". Part of what I am good at is understanding the future of the automobile in America. In 1977 I opened a Honda Specialist repair shop that was decades ahead of its time. Honda had just a Civic and an Accord for sale but it was the future. In 1981 we computerized the shop with a Comadore CBM (before IBM and Apple) and it changed the way we did business. In 1999 I bought a Honda Insight (the 23rd hybrid sold in the USA). It changed everything. Now we have a Nissan Leaf on order (hope to get it early in 2011) and the new age of cars is complete for now. The Volt is just as exciting as the Leaf and that will be added to our fleet as well but not at 10K over sticker! So for our students ACDC is getting ready to add electric car training to our list of professional automotive career development classes. For "Up Your Voltage!" Graduates it looks like reviewing our 5 day class "Up Your Voltage!" once it becomes a six day class.The 6 day class will happen after we get the Volt and Leaf or you can come out to a special "Electric Car Class". The important thing to keep in mind is you are already very close once you fully understand a hybrid vehicle. All you need to add to your training is the following:
1. Heating system training
2. 220/440 v charging station diagnosis
3. Li-ion battery systems understanding
4. On board HV charging system
5. Did I miss anything?
LEAF Price About $34,000 (minus 7,500 for some)
Mechanical Specs
- 80 kW AC synchronous electric motor
- 24 kWh lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery
- 3.3 kW onboard charger
- Emissions – Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV)
- Power-assisted vented front disc/rear disc brakes
- "Coasting" regenerative brakes
- 4-wheel Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)
- Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist (BA)
- Electronic parking brake
- Front and rear stabilizer bars
- Vehicle speed-sensitive power-assisted steering
- Portable Trickle Charge Cable (120V/EVSE) 3
- Tire repair kit
- zero tailpipe emissions (depends on your source of electrical energy)
- 100% electric – no gasoline required
- high response synchronous AC motor 80kW
- range –100 miles/charge based upon US EPA LA4 City cycle2 (will be less over time)
- speeds up to 90 mph
- 5 passengers, 5 doors
- Nissan Navigation System
The Nissan LEAF will be delivered with a 110/120V Trickle charge cable that works with the onboard charging system. As the name implies this will be primarily used for opportunity charging and is not recommended to be your primary method of charging. For that we have the Nissan home charging dock which uses a 220/240V dedicated line in your home.