Nissan recently introduced its ‘No charge to charge’ program in Denver, Colorado. From 2nd June, customers who acquire the Nissan Leaf from certified dealers in this area will receive two years of free charging.
Right now, Denver is the 16th market in United States that is offering the ‘No Charge to Charge’ program and reports indicate there will be a total of 25 markets supporting this plan, by the end of 2015. Andrew Speaker, Nissan’s EV Sales and Marketing Director declared that EV charging infrastructure continues to grow in Denver.
The access to free public charging for Nissan Leaf buyers will assist in acquiring an all-electric vehicle more easy and cost-effective. Right now Wanxiang is investing a huge sum of 200 million dollars in A123 systems so as to increase its lithium-ion battery production by two times.
According to reports, the combined capacity of the 3 production facilities located in Michigan, China, Hangzhou, and Changzhou will be increased to 1.5 gigawatt-hours from 750 megawatt hours in the next three years. Due to this increased capacity, customers will be able helped in building hybrids, commercial vehicles and Passenger EVs.
The capacity to make 48-volt microhybrid systems and 12-volt starter batteries has been in included within the capacity of this expansion. Jason Forcier, A123 CEO declared that it has been a tremendous turnaround from the company’s bankruptcy in 2012. Forcier further declared that the company is planning another expansion once this is complete.
Meanwhile, all the anticipation rests on the next-generation Nissan Leaf, which will make its debut sometime in Q4 this year. The upcoming Leaf promises to present a larger capacity battery along with a longer travel distance.
Nissan also tipped it to be twice longer than the current model. However, this necessarily doesn’t mean the end of the world for the existing Leaf as it will also receive an upgrade that increases its travel distance. This upgrade is scheduled to take place next month and due to this the current battery will be replaced by a 30kwh pack. Due to the larger pack, the EV will have a great travelling range of 105-110 miles.
However, keep in mind that this isn’t the same battery as the one that will feature in the next-generation model. However, it is still a substantial upgrade, nonetheless. However, it is not sure whether the new battery pack will charge the present Leaf owners. Further details will be released once Nissan is ready to release a new pack.