Correct, Russ. I have since had an i-MiEV owner clarify this for me and explain further that it’s only the CHAdeMO-equipped ones that do this, not the J1772-only ones (it was recently announced that all upcoming 2014 i-MiEVs will be CHAdeMO-equipped, so it’s hoped the battery cooling system will be there as well.)

What I also learned is that Japanese i-MiEV buyers have the option of purchasing the car with lithium titanate (LTO) Toshiba SCiB batteries, which are far most heat resistant than just about any other lithium chemistry and have charge/discharge characteristics that make them more adaptable to Quick Charging when compared to all others.

The only downside with LTO cells is that they have significantly lower voltage per cell (2.4V per cell vs. around 3.6 of most others) and, hence, energy density of the pack is lower. Still . . . I wouldn’t mind having the option of buying an LTO battery i-MiEV here in North America.

But if it’s already 113° outside (ie: like it often is in the summertime in Arizona,) it’s basically all for naught.

A system that sends hot coolant to a radiator that is relying on that 113 degree air to cool that liquid, isn’t any better off. Some guys tested a Volt sitting on a hot tarmac in Arizona and found that the cooling system was actually heating the battery …which makes sense because the surface temperature was 140 degrees.

You are describing a heat pump for the battery compartment, essentially, refrigerating it. According to Wikipedia, the MiEV only does that during charge cycles when it can draw the power needed for air conditioning from the power line. Unplugged, it uses a simple fan.

My guess as to why they don’t; refrigerating a battery compartment while driving would greatly shorten range.

But feel free to commission a scientific survey.

That’s the reason though I swear they make them as such (ugly/not practical) bc it’ll kill their money making ice sales (and subsequent frequent ice sales).

Pick the ten best looking cars. Pass the picture on to a thousand people. The correlation between your picks and the other ten thousand picks will approach zero.

If everyone had the same idea of what constitutes an attractive looking car, all cars would look the same. Note that they don’t. Grab a beer and mull that one over.

We don’t all see James Bond staring back at us from the bathroom mirror. A sports car version of the Leaf would appeal to those who do.

Because it is an electric car, it would cost very little extra to beef up the controller, wiring, and motor in the Leaf to make a version that would accelerate like a higher end sports car …for those who place a high level of importance on that characteristic.

Build a car that people walk up to and check out because it looks great. Then let them check to see who builds it and discover that it’s an electric.

Tesla gets this. EVs don’t need to look like upgraded golf cars.

… where a well-publicized private demonstration showed that Leaf batteries were losing range faster than Nissan said they would. This stems back to Nissan’s decision to use an air-cooled battery, rather than liquid cooling.

Nissan warned in the owner’s manual that you could expect to lose range faster in very high ambient temperatures. In fact, all of the electric cars warn about that. It is a well-established internet urban legend that it was the result of the Leaf’s passive cooling but here’s a quote from the Volt (liquid cooled) chief engineer:

““The Volt may not be right for everyone. If you live in the Southwest, depending on how you use your car, the Volt might not be right for you.”

I think Nissan needs a sports car to compliment its economy car. Take a look at the racing version of the Leaf.

The ideal use of an EV is as your first vehicle. Few people drive 100 miles a day, or even the 60 miles that one would get in cold weather. Put mileage on the EV and drive your less efficient “boat puller”/whatever car only when the EV won’t do.

If you’d like to know how an EV would work for you keep driving records for a while. Figure out how many days you wouldn’t be able to do your daily driving with an EV and how predictable they are. (Most people don’t suddenly find out they are going to have to drive an extra 40, 100 miles.)

Fed Ex and UPS are using electric vans. Many of their daily routes around town are less than 100 miles.