Sadly it needs about 20% more energy storage to really be a workable car for my current situation.
I think a lot of people would like to see it with 100 mile real world range. Biggest issue with EVs, especially shorter range EVs, is to get people to expect 20-30% capacity degradation over the life of the vehicle. Inevitably people will look at the range when new and assume that it's not going to change significantly (say less than 10%) over the life of the vehicle. 20-30% loss in range over 5-10 years is very significant!
This has to be done up front, otherwise you end up with disenfranchised customers. I think Tesla's setup of having standard and range modes is a good way to handle this, but when the battery is new, one might consider hiding additional capacity in standard mode to further flatten the degradation curve. Tough to do since batteries are expensive and one wants to extract as much as possible out of them.
That being said I think Nissan would have done better to build from scratch (versus from Versa) the LEAF.
I know this rumor has been around a while, but from what I understand, the LEAF is on an entirely new platform designed for the LEAF.
And I think a funky uber-aero design would have been a good boost to its sales.
Problem with funky uber-aero designs is that they tend to reduce interior space. The LEAF has more rear head-room than the Model S despite being a LOT smaller. Definitely still room for improvement and any improvement would help with freeway range, especially.
I drove a Nissan LEAF and the only real let down that I had was when I looked under the hood. There was no plan under there. I was a complete mess. They even use a Valve cover for the inverter/PEM cover. "So it looks like a ICE".
I dunno, doesn't look bad to me compared to comparable EVs on the market (look at the Fit EV, Focus EV, for example, and don't get me started on the ActiveE!). I think the "valve cover" was done simply because the inverter ended up with a similar footprint so someone got the idea it'd be "cute" to make it look conventional.
I think with a 'pure EV' method they could have squeezed in a bit more battery and cleaned up the front (I don't care if it has a frunk or not) under the hood. I think they would have done a bit better.
For a 1st gen EV I think they've done a decent job. Most useful would be getting the charger out from between the rear wheels and into the engine bay as that would open up a lot of trunk space. With a lot of effort they might be able to squeeze in a frunk, but probably not more than a couple cu-ft worth especially after the charger is moved up front. Getting the inverter integrated into the motor package like the Model S would help open up additional space under the hood. I'd love to see a small lithium battery used for 12V booting of the car instead of the big lead-acid battery, too. But cost cutting will probably keep that from happening on anything but high-end cars.
