Comments on: See Nissan’s First Zero Emissions Car This Weekend

By: LA Auto Show’s “Green Car of the Year” & day 2 of Press Days | Los Angeles Metblogs

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:12:22 +0000

[...] wanted to spend some time in were the all electrics. We’re seeing our first wave coming as Verdell noted in her post a couple of weeks ago. We may not have the infrastructure to support at the moment, but the bits [...]

By: Verdell Wilson

Verdell Wilson — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:41:12 +0000

One day I will drive a car without a tail pipe. Until then, I am happy with my scooter and my Metro commute.

By: Matt Mason

Matt Mason — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:48:08 +0000

I’m with Fraz on the electricity generation issue. Patting oneself on the back for driving a “zero emission” electric vehicle ignores the fact that, too often, it’s dirty mercury-producing coal that generates that electricity that you need to plug into each night. So while it’s great that these cars cut down on the use of gasoline, they only solve half the problem, or less.

@Evan, Verdell didn’t say that the Leaf was the first ZE car, only that it was Nissan’s first. They may be late to the party, but better late than never.

By: Burns!

Burns! — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:47:48 +0000

@ZE Mobility: I think Evan may have been referring to bicycles and such.

By: Evan

Evan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:26:26 +0000

ZE Mobility: I wasn’t talking about automobiles.

By: ZE Mobility

ZE Mobility — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:25:48 +0000

@Evan

There really aren’t that many ZE vehicles available that the common person can afford. The Leaf is really the first full BEV to be produced en mass at an affordable price point.

By: Evan

Evan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:00:45 +0000

To piss on this from a different direction, I’d just like to say that there are plenty of zero emission vehicles out there already.

By: frazgo

frazgo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:43:51 +0000

I hate to toss another wet blanket in this party as well. Don’t get me wrong, electric cars are a big part of our future and I see them shrinking in price as quantity increases. The problem lies in they are only “zero emission at point of operation”. Our current power infrastructure is based on fossil fuels so they are still contributing to the CO2 problem and gritty emissions. Unless you have your own solar system or wind generator to charge them these cars aren’t truly “emission free”.

I think the best bet for the long term future of the auto is going to be the fuel cell. I’ve driven one and it is amazing. When fueled with hydrogen from a solar power plant, like a Shell station in SaMo does, that becomes a CO2 free source of power for the car AND zero emissions.

By: Oren

Oren — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:45:18 +0000

I like the idea of cars that run on electricity only, but I really think they should make them cure cancer too.

By: Matt Mason

Matt Mason — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:31:49 +0000

This looks interesting, but I would like to see a top speed of at least 100 mph. You never know when you might need to pass another car at top speed. For safety reasons, of course.