Some find any reason to criticize, on this it would be that it is not an American company and then they would say that the government should not get involved and certainly should not be using THEIR money.

I wish Nissan’s Smyrna, Tenn. well and wonder if

http://www.plusplasticelectronics.com/Automotive/Powerful-lithium-ion-batteries-produced-by-US-university-spin-out-8583.aspx tech be swapped in if it actually pans out.

Imagine how the Japanese people would view it.

CEO Mr. Ghosen has made his mad dash for a premature, under-engineered 'Leaf' entry into the BEV marketplace. He is doing this, to get Nissan back into the alternate energy race where they are so far behind, as to be invisible.

Reportedly, they are not providing any battery preserving thermal conditioning outside of a fan, for their batteries either. Nor are they preventing deep discharges that are known to drastically reduce battery life too, so they won't last very long.

I fear that the predictable 'lemons' Nissan will create, will stain and adhere to every automaker's electric cars, deserving or not. When Nissan lease losses proliferate, everybody's electric cars lease prices will be affected and likely vault into the stratosphere. Contrast this with the careful developmental R&D work of Toyota, Ford and GM's game-changing Chevrolet VOLT.

But never fear. The Clueless Ones loons have made sure than we will lose $Billions of US taxpayers money on Japanese car companies too.

This is an example of rather than leaving car building to car builders and customers, we have the benefits of taxing the citizens, skimming off 50% for "governmental expenses", and then picking among "winners and losers". Then selecting the obvious loser in the game, by some incompetent, uncaring, bureaucrat.

Fisker - ZERO cars manufactured, half a $billion, but partially owned by Al Gore; Nissan - Leaf 1.4 $Billion, but sounds too good to be true, and likely is, etc.

@Stan,

I take your first 3 paragraphs as valid concerns. I think the Volt will only be a game changer if it can be made for $30K rather than $40K, but that's a quibble. Nissan has publically said they are leap frogging hybrids, to attempt to be leaders in BEV. Nissan may build a lemon. That does not necessarily lower the book value of everyone else's electric car. I still like the idea of mass produced BEVs to spur the market place.

As to whether the government should be in the car market...well, they are. My hope is that GM recovers and the tax payers make a profit as they did with their loans to Chrysler in the 1970's.

Shouldn't 1.4 billion US dollars spent on US capital equipment in the US launching 1,000's of US manufacturing jobs for many years be viewed positively?

The urban EV was proved viable a dozen years ago. Buyers offered full lease/vehicle price. The ICE/auto/oil industry REFUSED to sell mass produced EV's.

Maybe buyers will find EV's less expensive than full-cycle gas/auto/ICE maintenance/oil terrorist/oil blackmail/oil war expense.

Why such fear about mass-produced electric vehicles?

Your oil-powered TV's, gas-powered refrigerator's, and diesel-powered computers can continue to serve you appropriately.

This first step to free the nation from Oil import (and GHG) and create jobs is not cheap but is well worth it.

USA may have to invest 2000 to 5000 times that much in the next 20 years to transition from ICE to electrified vehicles and to clean up e-energy production and distribution.

The status quo is not acceptable, if USA wants to remain one of the top ten or twenty world leading countries for another 50+ years.

Hanging to inefficient over weight ICE vehicles, coal fired power stations, fragile non-integrated power distribution systems, old fashion railroads, antique suburban trains, uncontrolled banking & insurance systems, free for all Wall Street operators and speculators, uncontrolled lobbies and powerful self interest groups etc are not the best tools for future sucessful democracies. USA will have to innovate, be more creative and move much faster to stop the current downward slide.

$1.4 billion is drop in the bucket compared to spending on oil wars and to import foreign oil. EREVs make more sense right now than EVs, but it's possible Ghosen right and battery tech is evolving fast enough to make EVs feasible now. ...or demand for oil will grow that fast. No matter. If they don't sell I'll buy'em at 10 cents on the dollar, duct tape a small generator on back, and sell for 50 cents on the original dollar, i.e. half price.
"capacity to build 150,000 Nissan LEAF electric cars per year" WOW! EV1? What was that?

Nissan has been working on batteries since the early 90s with NEC. Who has GM been working with? That's right, they sold the batteries to Texaco/Chevron. Who has Ford and Chrysler been working with on batteries since the early 90s?

If you want to blame someone, look to the "captains of industry" here in the U.S. Of course all those people that bought new Japanese cars the last 30 years are part of it too. We reap what we sew and if we are going to buy foreign then sooner or later we will work for foreign...simple as that.

I wish it were chrysler rather than Nissan but chrysler is not even on the radar in this area.
If it takes a japanese co. to take the lead and make this commitment then i'll settle for that.
However, Stan raises valid point that a 'lemon' could set back the whole BEV industry.
Let's hope it's good enough to at least serve to drive down the cost of the volt, or any others.

Best electric drive trains in the world for volume in
electric cars are made by UQM, Magna and Azure all
in the USA, an American and two Canadian companies
(UQM did get 45+ Million loan from DOE)...

Yes you have Siemens but they are a German
powerhouse waiting in the wings, and another
American company backed by Parker, CalMotors
in the near future.

Now, if a DOE loan of 1,400 millions will give
direct work to 1,300 people, What can the same
amount do by giving 1,300 EV American hard
working entrepreneurs, 1.076 Million each?
Yes, Virginia, between 13,000 and 26,000
direct jobs in many more American towns than
one in Tennesse. And much faster repayment.

The point is not about leveraging a Japanese
company, it is a globalized economy after all;
the real blunder is ignoring American people
job needs, at times like this, when you can
assuage those needs for the nation's profit
and world leadership in electric drive solutions.