The Original Blog of the NISSAN Whistleblower
To: GE's Jeff Immelt
I'm happy that NISSAN is supporting the Predators, Ryman and Habitat for Humanity. I was told that they are being so GENEROUS to make up for the bad publicity when the DOE scandal breaks. NISSAN wasted over 1 Billion dollars of tax payer money. Below was sent to the Inspector General of the DOE. Maybe someone will have the courage to tell NISSAN to show the American Taxpayers RESPECT!!!
Also, it's time they showed the whistleblower respect too. Sharyn Bovat 615-415-6675
To: Mr. Friedman
Inspector General for the DOE
My name is Sharyn Bovat and I've been blogging about wasteful spending by NISSAN for over 2 years.
Your agency gave NISSAN over 1 Billion dollars in the form of a loan via the Treasury bank.
NISSAN took that money without the technology to build what they promised. www.girlintheblackhonda.com
NISSAN's partner is the French company Renault and they do business with IRAN.
The Iranians are sending weapons to KILL American troops.
Thank You for your time,
Sharyn Bovat 615-415-6675
My complant was filed by email and I will be sending a copy "certified" mail.
If it's NOT investigated my guess is the Republicans and taxpayers will want to know WHY!!!!
??? How can NISSAN sell a car for $33,000 when it costs $80,000 +/- to produce
The answer is TAXPAYER money!!! www.girlintheblackhonda.com
NISSAN Whistleblower told Leaf was to be an "Image car"and not intended to be mass marketed.
??? Then WHY did NISSAN take OVER 1 Billion dollars of DOE taxpayer money to build a battery plant to MASS produce batteries.
The NISSAN Leaf REALLY cost 63,000 to 67,000 just to manufacture.
The $63,000 Leaf price is achieved by statements from and industry expert who said “the non battery part of the Leaf would be approx. 15-20K” then added “that does not include marketing or R & D” & realistically the car cost 80k.
Each Leaf battery has 48 modules and each module cost about $1000 to produce*. That’s $48,000 JUST for the battery modules. *Nissan says they will replace the modules for about $650; I was told it's due to "recycling"...
“replacing a single module in the Leaf's 48-module battery pack would cost £404” (that’s 48K for JUST parts of the battery pack)” Andy Palmer Board Member NISSAN Motors. http://green.autoblog.com/2011/08/03/need-to-replace-a-nissan-leaf-battery-hows-19-392-31-753-u/
Carlos Ghosn says the Leaf will NOT be built it it’s not profitable. Other’s have said NISSAN has to sell 500,000 just to break even.
It cost NISSAN 80K to make a Leaf & they sell the car for 33k. To the average eye NOW it looks like a Ponzi scheme.
NISSAN has been secretive about the battery cost for a reason
Carlos Ghosn said the Renault EV spy scandal http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12160430 was about the “business model”.
Sharyn Bovat worked with top NISSAN and Renault executives. They did NOT want anyone to know details of the EV (some used code words). Others at NISSAN communicated to Sharyn that the Leaf was “built to fail” & that NISSAN would go bankrupt “if” the Leaf succeeded.
The retail price of the Leaf is $33,000 the federal subsidies are $7,500 some states are adding an EXTRA $2,500 - $5,000 of incentives.
The NISSAN Leaf is 65% to 75% subsidized.
NISSAN says the “average” income for Leaf owners is OVER $140,000.
Sharyn Bovat blogged before the DOE loan closed that the “Leaf would fail” and she’s suffered retaliation in asking NISSAN for transparency in reference to the federal DOE loan that NISSAN was granted for 1.4 Billion by the DOE to create an EV battery plant in Smyrna Tennessee.
The bank used to obtain the DOE taxpayer funded "cash" is a US government bank that was created to give loans to the Veteran’s and Post Office & is notorious for NOT getting repaid.
??? Why is a bank created for American interest being used for a FOREIGN company that does business with IRAN.
NISSAN partners with Renault & Renault does business in Iran. Car sales for Renault have increased 70% this year.
NISSAN shares technology with Renault.
Iran is sending weapons to KILL American soldiers.
Back to the economic issue:
NISSAN has only sold about 7000 Leafs in America and about 12,000 worldwide.
When asking for DOE money Carlos Ghosn said that “by 2012” there would be 100,000.
NISSAN will not give out the statistics on “who’s buying the Leafs”.
“the qualifying cars are all Tesla Roadsters, all Nissan Leafs…Presently, however, the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car does not qualify….” http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1066386_electric-car-owners-to-lose-if-ca-carpool-lanes-get-tolls
Insiders told me most Leaf sales are in Los Angeles, due to the HOV sticker. Those in the CA government ODDLY determined that GM’s Chevy Volt would NOT qualify for the “fast lane” status and many people are buying the Leaf as “fast pass”. NISSAN lobbied politicians to secure an advantage.
NISSAN executives told Sharyn Bovat that when the Volt gets the California HOV status Leaf sales will TANK!!!
For over 2 years Sharyn Bovat has blogged about bad spending in reference to the DOE funded project.
The NISSAN Whistleblower was told Nissan's operating margins are so low that NISSAN will NOT be able to "repay the DOE loan".
A member of NISSAN management contacted Sharyn Bovat worried that “if” NISSAN had to pay back the loans than those in management wound not see a bonus for decades. He was offered a job with another manufacturer and asked Sharyn “what he should I do”.
It was reported “NISSAN has not drawn down the full loan amount” http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/morning_call/2011/09/nissan-not-worried-about-cuts-to.html
Congress NEEDS to get an “update” from NISSAN on “how the project is going”. American’s deserve ALL the statistics on who’s buying the NISSAN Leaf.
At the Nashville airport on Friday Larry Dominique the now FORMER Chief Product Planner for NISSAN said on Friday that “NISSAN is good for a year” …. Then it was announced he was leaving the company. http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110930/OEM02/110939987/1280
My name is Sharyn Bovat I’m an American taxpayer and I want Bill Krueger the Vice Chairman of NISSAN to answer these questions:
???’s for NISSAN
Bill Krueger says NISSAN is on the verge of hiring employees for the battery plant.
It was communicated to the NISSAN Whistleblower the “plant is delayed”.
??? When will the DOE approved taxpayer financed battery plant will be ready
??? EXACTLY how many jobs will be created with this DOE project?
??? EXACTLY when will the new NISSAN employees start work?
If Bill Krueger says 1,300 are hired (the number Ghosn’s people told the DOE) then the NISSAN battery DOE project will ONLY cost the taxpayers $1,000,000 per job created. Let’s hope there LONG TERM jobs. I was told most likely NOT hire to capacity and jobs would be 300-400 at BEST. Bringing the cost to $3,000,000 per job created. Sounds like LOTS of problems for the Obama administration.
Sharyn Bovat has blogged that NISSAN is using battery technology from the 90’s & was created in California during the C.A.R.B. days.
Elon Musk says the NISSAN Leaf battery is a "much more primitive level of technology" than even Tesla's first prototype. Adding the Leaf pack will have temperatures "all over the place" that will cause it to suffer "huge degradation" in cold environments and basically "shut off" in hot environments, according to Earth2Tech. http://green.autoblog.com/2010/08/06/elon-musk-rips-into-nissan-leafs-primitive-batteries/
Experts told the NISSAN Whistleblower the "real range" of the leaf will be 60 miles per charge in 2 years. IN 2009 Congress was told the EV’s range was 100. The reality is between 70-75 miles per charge. ALSO!!! that is in certain driving conditions. Cold weather and use of AC will limit the range.
The Wall Street Journal says that there is going to be a GLUT in the EV battery market. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904199404576540170506631268.html
Peace and Respect
Sharyn Bovat
615-415-6675
