Reports suggest owning electric car battery is the only viable option
With the upcoming release of the Nissan Leaf there has been discussion about possible price tags for the car and for the electric battery.
The car, which is released in March 2011, is difficult to price due to the high cost of the battery which, if bought, may make the car just too expensive to buy.The alternative would be to lease the battery, but this would then mean a driver would be completely dependent on the manufacturer in order to run the car.
Mark Norman, CAP operational development manager, said, “Manufacturers would love cradle-to-the- grave control over their product and owning the means to give a car power gives them that.â€
The problem is that the battery could cost up to £10,000 and adding such a figure to the price of the car would seriously reduce sales figures. The same can be said even when the £5,000 government subsidy is taken into account.
However with talks about leasing the battery rather than selling it, preliminary price estimates are difficult because the vehicle would not have European Type Approval.
Mr Norman said, “Things will change as the market gets more sophisticated, but leasing a battery is a step too far at the moment.â€
Nissan, Peugeot, Citroën and Renault are also in discussions on this issue, and as of yet there is no clear decision about the leasing of electric batteries. Despite this, a decision will have to be made before the cars are released, which will affect both car buyers and car leasers when choosing their vehicle.
