The EV Project » Overview worth taking a look at for all of you lucky b------s who live in the Western US, you are getting the benefit of $100M to deploy a massive number of EV charging stations in the Western US It would certainly make sense to seriously consider the Nissan Leaf no matter where you live, but it especially makes sesne out west, with the large infrastructure deployment of EV chargers. They appear to be trying to work out the logistics of how the electricty used will be billed, etc.
I think they want to do all of the testing in mostly warm climates - it puts the best possible picture of EV's out, as colder tempatures will affect the batteries ability to hold a charge, and the recharge time as well, this is probably why they choose to not test in Colorado, MN, MA, NY, AK etc.
I'm sure is has to do with at least 3 things: Lower cost of labor in TN: They are banking their future on the battery plant, and that is going to be in TN Lower cost of doing business: California is very expensive to mfr cars in, and an expensive place to buy land for a new plant, plus all of the government regulations, etc. Dead wood: I'm sure they viewed it as an opportunity to get rid of some employees, as not everyone made the move, and they will likely be replaced by lower cost labor locally in TN
Yep, also that but it also puts them closer to their existing plants and suppliers to those plants. See Nissan in North America - Nissan USA. Nissan's plant at Smyrna, TN has been open since 1983 and they've been best known for making the Altima there but more models have been added over time.
I'm just glad that at least SOME states, including western states get a crack at the Leaf. Oh, wait ... I'M in the west! ound: Is it any wonder the OP called us b------s ??
"aerovironment" has a white paper on EV's: http://www.avinc.com/downloads/EVs_The_Next_Big_Thing_V2.pdf They are the people who will be tasked with installing the home chargers for the Nissan Leaf Also their charging FAC: AeroVironment: EV Charging: FAQ and page on plugins: Aerovironment: Charging Electric Vehicles. Changing the World.
gee, i thought the areas chosen seem to have connections to hydro...Pac Northwest, Arizona and Tennessee then Cali only because it already has a large base of EV enthusiasts along with a bunch of charging stations already. dont really know much about tennessee, but isnt the TVA (tennessee valley authority) another major hydroelectric producer? like all areas where the base load is hydroelectric, the big problems come when trying to manage power output during off peak periods. this makes a large number of EV charging during off peak hours a near perfect marriage of convenience.
