On 12 Aug 2009 15:07:55 GMT, Adrian wrote:
Bruce gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

I understand your scepticism, but the Nissan Leaf and its Renault
equivalent (the two companies are closely linked) will be the first
available mass production electric cars.

No, they won't. Not by a long chalk.


Well there aren't *any* at the moment. All available electric cars,
from the £8299 G-Wizz to the £64000 Tesla Roadster, are low volume,
mostly handmade products. Only the Chevrolet Volt is anywhere near as
advanced (in terms of getting to mass production) as the
Nissan/Renault models, and the Volt isn't expected until at least a
year after them. Besides, it's a hybrid and not a full electric car.

Production of the Nissan Leaf is imminent and it is due to go on sale
in the USA and Japan in 2010. The Volt was originally announced for a
2011 release but with all GM's problems, that has slipped, probably
until 2013.

Bruce gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

I understand your scepticism, but the Nissan Leaf and its Renault
equivalent (the two companies are closely linked) will be the first
available mass production electric cars.

No, they won't. Not by a long chalk.

Well there aren't *any* at the moment.

shrug Still doesn't mean "first".

All available electric cars, from the £8299 G-Wizz to the £64000 Tesla
Roadster, are low volume, mostly handmade products.

Leaving aside the C1 ev'ie - which is a low-volume modification of a mass
produced car - you seem to have forgotten about the various electric PSA
products of the '90s - Saxos, 106s, Berlingos etc. All "mass-produced" in
reasonable volume (I've not seen any production figures, but I'd suspect
into four figures) alongside the internal combustion versions. La
Rochelle wasn't their only reason for production - they were standard
production models, on UK price lists, especially the Berlingo.

On 12 Aug 2009 15:35:51 GMT, Adrian wrote:

Bruce gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

I understand your scepticism, but the Nissan Leaf and its Renault
equivalent (the two companies are closely linked) will be the first
available mass production electric cars.

No, they won't. Not by a long chalk.

Well there aren't *any* at the moment.

shrug Still doesn't mean "first".

All available electric cars, from the £8299 G-Wizz to the £64000 Tesla
Roadster, are low volume, mostly handmade products.

Leaving aside the C1 ev'ie - which is a low-volume modification of a mass
produced car - you seem to have forgotten about the various electric PSA
products of the '90s - Saxos, 106s, Berlingos etc. All "mass-produced" in
reasonable volume (I've not seen any production figures, but I'd suspect
into four figures) alongside the internal combustion versions. La
Rochelle wasn't their only reason for production - they were standard
production models, on UK price lists, especially the Berlingo.


No, they were all low volume hand made adaptations (and pretty crude
ones at that) of petrol or diesel cars or vans. There won't be a
petrol or diesel version of the Leaf; it was designed from the outset
as an electric car.

Perhaps there might be a hybrid derivative in the years to come.

Bruce gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

Leaving aside the C1 ev'ie - which is a low-volume modification of a
mass produced car - you seem to have forgotten about the various
electric PSA products of the '90s - Saxos, 106s, Berlingos etc. All
"mass-produced" in reasonable volume (I've not seen any production
figures, but I'd suspect into four figures) alongside the internal
combustion versions. La Rochelle wasn't their only reason for production
- they were standard production models, on UK price lists, especially
the Berlingo.

No, they were all low volume hand made adaptations (and pretty crude
ones at that) of petrol or diesel cars or vans.

No, they weren't.

There won't be a petrol or diesel version of the Leaf; it was designed
from the outset as an electric car.

The Berlingo, for one, was designed from the outset to be powered by
internal combustion or electricity.

On Aug 12, 5:31*pm, Adrian wrote:

The Berlingo, for one, was designed from the outset to be powered by
internal combustion or electricity.

Might explain why the bodywork is made of tin foil, then... (but then
again that's a fairly standard Citroen thing )

Neil

On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:06:30 -0700 (PDT), Neil Williams
wrote:

Might explain why the bodywork is made of tin foil, then... (but then
again that's a fairly standard Citroen thing )


Think yourself lucky that it isn't corrugated, as it was on early 2CVs
and on the H van.