Gas 2.0

A Short Test Drive in the Ford Transit Connect Electric + a Few More Details

Posted: 15 Feb 2010 11:14 AM PST

While I was grumbling about the dearth of green automobiles and related green happenings at last week’s Chicago Auto Show, Ford—who stole the show with the most exciting green car announcements including a natural gas Transit Connect Taxi and a 30 MPG Ford Edge—provided me with an opportunity to be one of the first of the media to drive the upcoming Transit Connect Electric.

It was only a short 5 minute lap around the convention center on salted, icy downtown Chicago streets, but it felt like a very solid truck. In fact, aside from the lack of engine noise, it was an abjectly normal experience. But this is exactly what Ford is going for—making the experience of driving an electric vehicle as similar to that of a conventional vehicle as possible. Given that the Transit Connect Electric is squarely aimed at commercial fleets and businesses, that only makes sense.

And based on what I could tell from 5 minutes, if you or your drivers travel less than 80 miles per day on predetermined routes or in and around the city, the Transit Connect Electric could be exactly what the doctor ordered to either show off your business’ commitment to going green and/or saving oodles of money at the pump and maintenance department. It could truly fit into your business without anyone so much as batting an eye.

Regenerative Braking

At this point I’ve driven lots of upcoming electric cars on short test drives and one of the things I like to pay attention to is the amount of regenerative braking the engineers chose to include in the vehicle. It can range from overly harsh (the Mini E) to barely noticeable (the Nissan LEAF test mule) to user-selectable (the Mitsubishi i-MiEV). Of all of those options I prefer the user-selectable one; it affords the driver the ability to determine what style of EV driving they prefer. If you want to go whole hog and recapture as much of the “lost” braking energy as possible, you can crank it up high and never even have to use the brake pedal, but, if that feeling gives you a queasy, unsafe, out-of-control vibe, you can turn it down and it will feel almost exactly like a conventional car.

The Ford Transit Connect Electric has chosen to go with the barely noticeable regen braking scheme, but as I always do on these test drives, I point out the option of the user-selectable regen to whatever chief engineer inevitably accompanies me. On this particular trip I was accompanied by Scott Staley, one of Ford’s Chief Engineers in their research and advanced engineering department. Scott thought the user-selectable option was a great idea, and seeing that it’s essentially a minor software change, he seemed to think it might even make it in the final vehicle. So, if you see that option in there, you can thank me.

Sale and Profit Arrangement with Azure Dynamics

After the test drive I had the opportunity to talk with Jay Sandler, Vice President of sales for Azure Dynamics. The partnership between Azure and Ford is, as far as I can tell, unique in the industry and is blazing a whole new trail. The Transit Connect body will be assembled in Turkey—as I believe all of them are. But after that, all the Transit Connect bodies that are destined to become Electrics will be shipped as an empty shell to Azure Dynamics’ as-yet-to-be-chosen “near Detroit” assembly facility where Azure will install all of the pieces that make it function.

All of the Transit Connect Electrics assembled in Michigan by Azure will be sold through Ford Dealerships, but Azure will be the seller. The vehicles will be serviced by trained EV techs at the Ford facilities, but Azure will be the warrantier–although this will likely not be a problem as EVs should will very little service required. According to Scott Staley and Jay Sandler, even though Ford’s badge is on the Transit Connect Electric, Ford will not be making money off the sale of the finished product. Azure will be buying the empty shells from Ford and making all the profit off the final product sales.

It seems like a complicated arrangement, but in order to bring the vehicle to market quickly, both Ford and Azure seemed to think that this was the best option. If they’re successful, Azure reaps the profit while Ford assumes virtually no risk yet gets the spotlight. As Ford ramps up its own vehicle electrification program over the next few years, we’ll see if Azure continues to be part of that picture.

I wonder if Ford is using the Transit Connect Electric as a test bed to see if Azure is a company worth buying. Why not? Technology companies do it all the time to speed up their research or get a lock on technology they feel is the next big thing.

Nissan LEAF Finishes Tour; Pre-Orders Begin in April; Will Be Available by Lease or Sale in December

Posted: 15 Feb 2010 09:54 AM PST

It’s been a whirlwind of a three month tour for the upcoming Nissan LEAF electric car. After kicking things off last November in Los Angeles, the LEAF and its accompanying drivable test mule made 63 stops in 24 cities, finally ending up at an appearance in New York City last week.

Nissan says the tour covered 10,000 miles and gave more than 100,000 people the ability to see and learn about the car–and electric vehicles in general.

"There was a groundswell of grassroots support from coast to coast," said Carlos Tavares, Chairman of Nissan Americas, in a statement. "Everywhere we went, people recognized a new form of mobility–a turning point–and they wanted to be a part of it. The response was spontaneous and diverse. We were joined by mayors and government officials, CEOs, utility partners, car enthusiasts, students, dealers, media, environmentalists, Twitter users and lots of families."

Reservation Process

Due in part to the large interest generated on the tour, more than 50,000 people have now signed up on Nissan’s website to be the first to hear about developments with the LEAF. Turns out that was a wise decision by those people, because according to the company, only folks who are signed up on that list will be given the first chance to reserve a LEAF.

Actual reservations will begin in April, shortly after Nissan announces pricing of the LEAF. Nissan has always said the LEAF will be priced competitively with other cars in the same family–somewhere around $25,000. As Carlos Ghosn, CEO of the Nissan-Renault Alliance has said in the past, “The only way you're going to mass market electric cars is by offering zero emissions as a free premium."

To reserve a LEAF in April, potential customers will need to pay a refundable $100 reservation fee, after which they will be placed in line to be one of the first to actually order the LEAF in August. The car will start being delivered to initial markets in December 2010–barely making it under the company’s stated delivery goal of 2010. Certainly the initial rollout will be slow and demand will far outpace supply and there’s no word on which markets will get the LEAF first or if it will be a staggered rollout, but Nissan does say that vehicles will be available in “all major launch markets quickly thereafter.”

To Buy or To Lease, That is the Question

To this point the question of whether or not the LEAF will be leased or purchased and whether or not the battery will be a separate purchase or lease has been largely left unanswered—sometimes confusingly so. But in their latest release, Nissan says quite clearly “The Nissan LEAF will be available to consumers via lease or sale, in a single transaction that includes the battery.”

So, it seems that Nissan will be giving customers the option of either leasing or purchasing and the car and battery are coming as a single package regardless of how it’s bought. No word on any pricing differences yet, but we’ll soon find out seeing as Nissan is planning on announcing pricing sometime in the next 2 months.