Dear Santa Nissan,
Christmas 2009 is almost here.
We know we canāt get a Nissan LEAF for Christmas until next year.
But we do have one important Christmas wish weād like to let you know about this year so that, hopefully, Christmas can be more satisfying for us all next year.
Discuss the LEAF battery pack lease issue in our Sun Miles⢠Forum.
Weāve heard you will probably be leasing the lithium-ion battery pack that will power the LEAF.
In the end, thatās your choice.
However, we ask that you consider the following before making it official:
- Surveying prospective LEAF buyers to see what we actually think about a battery lease. (We havenāt heard about you doing this).
- Todayās consumers expect to be able to customize their buying experience. They donāt want, and wonāt settle for, a one-size-fits-all approach. In fact, as todayās savviest companies know, you donāt need a survey to establish this basic truth. Of course, a survey could give you a better idea of the specific desires, wants and needs of your prospective consumer base.
- Because a one-size-fits-all approach doesnāt work ā basically, because we, the consumers, donāt want it — please donāt force one-size-fits all on us. Give us choices. Ideally, the choices we want.
- Please ask us what we want so that you can create a sales approach which will work for us (and for you) and which will adequately and fairly take into account our different expectations about car-buying, car use and car-driving.
- Some consumers like car leases. They want to drive a new model every few years and they donāt mind paying a monthly car payment every month from now until eternity. This group most likely wonāt mind a battery lease.
- On the other hand, some consumers would never lease a car. They donāt like ā detest might not be too strong a statement in some cases ā the idea of an endless monthly car payment. They want to be able to pay off a car as soon as possible, in some cases, with cash up front. To them, a car lease feels like a ball and chain. A battery lease will seem like a ball and chain to these consumers too. No doubt, many of these consumers wonāt buy a LEAF if you link its sale to a one-size-fits-all battery lease. Theyāll wait for another auto maker to produce an EV without the same battery ball and chain.
- You might be willing to give up prospective LEAF buyers to other auto makers who donāt package their EV with a battery lease. Maybe youāve crunched the prospective numbers and you think youāll hook enough people with a lower total car price, sell more EVs, and make more money in the long run. Maybe youāre worried about how valuable lithium-ion batteries could be on the re-sale market (see this blog entry by Plug In America’s Paul Scott for more on this angle), or maybe youāre concerned about the basic integrity and longevity of the lithium-ion battery pack itself ā you donāt want to disappoint or frustrate consumers if the battery packs fail after only a few years of driving. Maybe youāve considered all of these issues ā and quite a few more. We understand you need to balance different factors when creating a plan to sell, market, and deliver the LEAF. This Christmas, weāre just asking that you focus on what we think is the most important factor of all ā at least if you want to sell cars, satisfy consumers, and generate more consumers by satisfying the early waves of LEAF consumers: Choice.
- Here are a few specific ideas for our Christmas 2009 Nissan LEAF wish list, all premised on the basic idea that the best Santa Clauses companies offer the most choices possible:
- Let those of us who want to, buy the car and the battery.
- For those of us who have reservations about, say, the total upfront costs of a car+battery package, or who are concerned about battery life and/or battery technology improving and leap-frogging the early batteries practically overnight, give us the option to buy the LEAF at a lower upfront cost plus a monthly battery lease package ā if we want to.
- Give us different battery leasing choices. For instance, how about an option to lease the battery at a certain cost over 10 years, or at a higher cost over five years ā with several different ways to end the lease. For example, how about giving customers the option to: a) lease a new battery at the five- or 10-year mark OR giving them the option of buying the second battery outright?
- What about a pro-rating system? LEAF buyers could lease the battery for a while, then have the option to sell the battery back to Nissan on a pro-rated basis. Buyers could then replace the original battery-pack with another leased battery pack or a new battery-pack they purchase outright.
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Because a one-size-fits-all approach doesnāt work ā basically, because we, the consumers, donāt want it — please donāt force one-size-fits all on us. Give us choices. Ideally, the choices we want.
We know you canāt give us everything we want for Christmas.
But weāre hoping youāll listen to us. After all, last time we checked, Santa doesnāt decide what we want for Christmas ā unless, weāve been bad, and, rest assured, weāve all been very, very good this year — we get to decide what we would like for Christmas.
So, in sum, Santa Nissan, please ask us what kind of LEAF battery packages weād like for Christmas 2010 ā and, of course, during the rest of the year as well.
Sincerely,
The Worldās Prospective LEAF Buyers
P.S. ā Please add your own wishes to our Nissan LEAF battery-pack wish list by posting them using the āAdd New Commentā function below. Thank you ā and Happy Holidays! Or discuss and debate this issue in more detail in our forum — http://tinyurl.com/yzcpf2p
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