Is there any overlap at all between the type of people that a limited range city EV would appeal to and the types of people that a tight handling hot hatch would appeal to?

You always want to use gross generalities. I want to talk specifics.

That is some mighty fine data right there. But to be fair, it looks like it took an awful lot of hypermiling to get there (engine-off coasting and moon discs). The average 1987 Toyota Pickup on Fuelly is running around 20mpg.

Not mentioned here is that Porshe’s network is just a bunch of CCS chargers. That’s the same charger that every other EV but the Leaf uses these days. Even Tesla makes a CCS adapter in Europe.

I’m not going to change anyone’s mind here, but I want to illustrate that these subjects are well-researched and enjoy strong scientific consensus.

Hearing a nice V8, V10, or V12 brightens my day

Nissan has only sold 134k Leafs in the US, so their tax credit is still $7.5k for the next three years or so. Even if your power company doesn’t offer the rebate, dealerships are advertising internet prices of $25-26k new, so still effectively $18k after tax credit. The Leaf isn’t the best EV, but it’s almost always…

Incentives. A new Leaf (40kWh) doesn’t cost $30k. After factoring in dealer discounts, power company rebates, and federal tax credit, a new Leaf costs around $18k. And the old $11k model has a smaller battery. I agree that buying new usually isn’t the right call, but it isn’t quite as crazy as it sounds.

I’ve casually eyed the Leaf as a next car, but I just wish they’d give it more of a wagon treatment, or even a low CUV.

The thermal argument isn’t about range loss in the summer, it’s about long-term degradation like the gen 1 Leaf experienced.

What’s crazy to me is that the Nissan e-NV2000, which ran on a Leaf drivetrain, actually had active cooling. It would blow cabin air into the batteries so you could chill them with the A/C. So it's not like Nissan doesn't know how to solve the problem.

Long story short, it’s still a problem because Nissan is a butt.

I once had a dream where I joined a colorful group of misfits and converted an old gas station into a drive-in theater for people charging their electric cars.

1st Gear / Neutral:

(which is inaccurate anyway - real wages have been trending up since last spring, and with a few exceptions have been positive since early 2013)

Salivating over diesel mileage without any apples-to-apples comparison is counterproductive. So here are some Quick Maths to help with that:

(Tiny rant. Pay no mind.)

First Gear:

On a more serious note, EVs built on ICE platforms are fucking stupid. There’s no reason to give up the inherent space and efficiency benefits that the smaller, more modular EV powertrain provides just to make cars easier to build—if no one wants to buy your car, you won’t need to build any of them and “ease of…

Exactly this. If you do it carefully, you can absolutely design a platform to accommodate BEV and ICEV alike, and sharing platforms cuts production costs.