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No Tailpipe: Transportation of the Future?
People strolling down Columbia’s College Walk on the morning of November 5 witnessed a futuristic, bright blue vehicle zipping across the sidewalk. It was the new zero-emission Nissan LEAF, on campus to demonstrate environmentally sustainable transportation.
Watch the video. 
At the wheel was Professor Manuel Pinho, Visiting Professor at SIPA and Director of the International Energy MBA at the Lisbon Institute. Joining Professor Pinho were Nissan executive vice president Carlos Tavares and a team of company designers and marketers. The group offered an overview and history of the LEAF as part of SIPA's Leaders in Global Energy lecture series, supported by a gift from EDP-Energias de Portugal.
Tavares began by examining the challenge of climate change. The number of vehicles in the world is expected to grow from 600 million today to 2.5 billion by 2050. Humanity is on track to create greenhouse gas emissions far beyond the earth's capacity, he said.
Electric vehicles are an answer to this problem, Tavares said.
"There is no tailpipe in a Nissan LEAF because there are no tailpipe emissions," he said. "This is what we call the ultimate solution."
Watch Nissan’s presentation here.
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The LEAF, which is expected to arrive on the market in December 2010, is a five-door compact hatchback with an electric motor and a lithium ion battery. Unlike a hybrid, it uses no gasoline and is charged from the electrical grid.
The LEAF seats five people, goes up to 90 miles per hour and travels up to 100 miles on a single charge. Nissan executives said that this shorter range will still be adequate for many customers.
"Ninety-five percent of us drive less than 100 miles per day," said Mark Perry, Nissan's North American director of EV and advanced technology strategy.
Perry also noted the steps Nissan took to create an environmentally sustainable car. Much of the LEAF's interior is made from recycled water bottles, he said. Ninety-nine percent of the car is recyclable.
Tracy Woodard, Nissan’s director of government affairs, spoke about how public policies can facilitate the adoption of electric vehicle technology. She advocates for public incentives for electric vehicle customers, including tax credits and free parking.
Governments can also promote electric vehicles by constructing public charging stations. About 13,000 stations are slated for construction across the United States by 2012, Woodard said. Similarly, governments can streamline the permit process for installing electric vehicle charging stations in homes.
So far, 29,000 customers have placed deposits to buy the LEAF, and Nissan expects to sell all of this year's models over the Internet. By 2014, Nissan intends to offer an electric luxury vehicle and an electric commercial vehicle as well.
"We are convinced that this moment is only the beginning," Tavares said.
Tim Shenk, 11/10/2010