Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn says EVs such as the LEAF are the cars of the future. [Photo Credit: Wikipedia.Org.]

You gotta like what Nissan's Carlos Ghosn is doing for electric cars. He’s a tireless promoter of pure EVs and his advocacy is smartly thought-out and smartly played.

For instance, Ghosn acknowledges that pure EVs such as the Nissan LEAF will work for only a certain percentage – albeit a fairly large percentage – of the driving public.

“For a lot of consumers, the range of 100 miles is not enough,” Ghosn told Yale Envrionment 360 in a recent interview. “It’s obvious. That’s why we’re not saying the electric car is going to represent 50 percent of the marketplace. We’re talking about 10 percent of the marketplace in 10 years. Even 10 percent of the global marketplace is about 7 million cars.”

Electric cars don't rely on one single commodity for their power. Because you can create electricity from so many sources, the electric car is really the car of the future.
--Carlos Ghosn, Nissan CEO

EVs work for many, not all
Yes, this is a sophisticated, nuanced argument which recognizes the diversity of the global auto market. And it stands in sharp contrast to the sheer idiocy of the “if an EV won’t work for me, it won’t work for anyone else” argument pushed ad nauseam by the anti-EV crowd.

And here’s an equally nuanced answer from Ghosn to a question from E360 about hybrids vs. electrics.

“[Hybrids and electrics] are two completely different products, it’s not either/or. We have hybrids and we are marketing hybrids in our lineup, and we have electric cars. I don’t think it’s either/or. I think there are some uses for hybrids that make a lot of sense, and there are some uses for zero-emission mobility that make perfect sense.”

Multiple fuel generators for EVs
Finally, let’s serve up one of my favorite Ghosn quotes, this one from a different source, TheTruthAboutCars.Com, in which the Nissan CEO emphasizes the incredible fueling versatility of electric cars. Although I’ve certainly been aware of this versatility – one that contrasts sharply with near mono-fueling capability of the gasoline powered car – until reading this gem from Ghosn, I hadn’t given it much thought in terms of how effectively it can pitch electric cars.

Here it is:

“What is the specific advantage of electric cars? They don’t rely on one single commodity for their power. You can make electricity out of many sources, wind, solar, natural gas, oil, coal, hydroelectric . . . We have transportation that is not depending on one single commodity. If there is a problem with nuclear, or a problem with oil, or a problem with coal, the superiority of the electric car is that it is not stuck. Because you can create electricity from so many sources, the electric car is really the car for the future.”

OK, I’m not a big fan of coal-generated electricity, or nuclear generated electricity. But that’s the beauty of the electric car: You don’t have to be. You can work to ensure that the electricity flowing into your EV’s batteries is generated by your favorite source of energy.

That’s just really cool, and it’s something you can’t do -- never will be able to do -- with your gasoline car.

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