Fleet Voice Column: August 5 2009
It is funny how things seem to run in a circular loop, for instance look what has happened in Formula One - F1 legend Michael Schumacher is making a return to Grand Prix racing with Ferrari, as the replacement for Felipe Massa, who was hurt in an accident when qualifying for the Hungarian GP.
It was a no-brainer for Ferrari to call on the services of the seven-time world champion, statistically he is the greatest driver in the history of the sport so when the Prancing Horse came calling the answer was always going to be yes.
At the age of 40, Schumacher is no spring chicken but fans all over the world are licking their lips in anticipation. Schumacher is a controversial figure for some but for this writer he is the best racing driver that as ever graced the F1 circus.
Age is no longer a barrier, just look at Lance Armstrong and his achievements on the Tour De France this year, he finished third in what is probably the toughest bike race in the world and he was only a couple of months off his 38th birthday. Therefore Schumacher as a honed athlete will be ready for the Valencia GP.
Coincide this loop to the electric circle that we have going on, and you will notice that we really are going back to the future.
Although the exact year is uncertain, we can trace the first electric vehicle back to the 1830s when Scottish born Robert Anderson invented the first electric carriage.
According to About.com Inventors, a small-scale electric car was designed by Professor Stratingh of Groningen, Holland, and built by his assistant Christopher Becker in 1835. This led to more practical and more successful electric road vehicles, these were invented by American Thomas Davenport and Scotsman Robert Davidson around 1842.
So as you can see electric cars have been around for a couple of hundred years and the loop look’s set to continue as Nissan has announced that it has unveiled the Nissan LEAF, the world’s first affordable, zero-emission car.
The battery is light years away from what our ancestors produced, the Nissan LEAF has been designed specifically for a lithium-ion battery-powered chassis. The vehicle is a medium-size hatchback, which the maker claims comfortably seats five adults and has a range of more than 160km (100 miles) to satisfy real-world consumer requirements. This could be ideal for those of you that manage a fleet of city couriers, estate agents or any fleet that uses in town driving for the majority of the time.
When we look back to our ancestors and their attempts at electric, their vehicles in 1897, the Phaeton, a car used by New York City Electric Taxis had a range of 18 miles and a top speed of 14mph and it cost $2,000.
The newest electric car has been slated in for 2010, the Nissan LEAF will be produced across the world and will be available in Japan, the United States, and Europe.
Nissan has claimed that this car ‘is the embodiment of Nissan’s radical, transformative vision for the future and the culmination of decades of investment and research.’
With the tax breaks for zero emission cars, Nissan has taken a real jump into the environmentally friendly world and as a good fleet manager you need to know what the LEAF is all about as it could save you money on fuel and tax breaks if the car is as good as the maker hopes it will be.
Nissan has not given us any confirmed pricing structure but from talking to sources these will be announced closer to the start of sales in late 2010; while Nissan expects the car to be competitively priced in the range of a well-equipped C-segment vehicle.
So it really does look as if we are going back to the future, Michael Schumacher is back in F1 and driving for Ferrari in the next GP, electric cars are back with a bang, they are worlds apart from what are ancestors made in the 1830s but the idea to power vehicles that produces zero emissions in a large volume continues. By late 2010, early 2011 you could be managing a fleet of zero emission vehicles…
Simon McBride
Author: Simon McBride, August 5, 2009
Filed under: Fleet Voice, Fleet news
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