I can’t recall another day I was this excited about something. I mean, I was really, really excited. Possibly when I got to see and drive a real-life Honda Insight from Japan but in hindsight now, it wasn’t nearly as momentous an occasion as this was for me.
Today was the day I got to test-drive Nissan’s new LEAF, the worlds first mass-market production EV (electric vehicle). I’ve followed the LEAF before was even revealed to the public this time last year when its internals were hidden inside a Nissan Cube (EV-01) and then a Nissan Tiida (EV-11).
Since watching Who Killed the Electric Car roughly two years ago, I’ve always had quite a bitter optimism towards EV’s. I understand how they work, I think they make sense for about 80-90% of the population and I want one myself but figured we’d never see them again. So you can understand how sitting in a mass-market, production EV was quite an experience for me. Not only that but also the first EV you can own (not counting the 109,000€ Tesla Roadster) – the first generation of EV’s were lease only, meaning that when your lease was up, they took the car back and (that time) they crushed them.
Fast forward to 2010. Rising petrol prices, motor tax prices, the BP oil spill, the “green revolution”, improvements in lithium-ion battery technology and you’ll see that many fully-electric cars have been announced for production and general release in 2011/2012. The Chevrolet Volt, Mitsubishi iMiEV, Th!nk City, CODA, Tesla and the Renault Fluence EV to name but a few. Volkswagen, BMW/Mini, Saab and Volvo have all pledged to be working on release cars too.
I had a short (but sweet) test-drive at Windsor Motorwold in Cork, as part of the Nissan LEAF Roadshow that’s touring over the major areas of Ireland right now. In the passenger seat was Gary from the Nissan Technical Centre in the UK. Gary has been working on the LEAF since its first prototype (the EV-01). He’s met all the EV-rockstars (in my mind) and accompanied Robert Llewellyn from Fully Charged on his test-drive of the same LEAF that I drove in the UK.
The Drive.
Two very important things stuck out for me as I drove the LEAF. The first was just how pleasant a car it is. There’s no noise, no rumble, no jerky feeling or anything really involved in turning it on or driving it. The cabin is large, light, airy and spacious.The whole car seems to be designed in a manner to make the driver feel relaxed and comfortable. This is reflected in the way the car drives too. Its so smooth. The heavy battery gives the car a nice planted feeling so it sticks to the road quite well, the steering is light and the lack of any transmission (because of the electric motor) means its smoother than any CVT-equipped car. You just put your foot down and watch the speedo race upwards. I wasn’t used to the silence of the car and I quickly forgot I was doing (well) over the Irish speed limit.
Having 100% torque from 0 gives the car a very nice bit of oomph too, good for putting boy racers in their place.
The second thing that stuck out for me was that this is a car. Its not a concept or a prototype, it has no weird design, its just a 5-door Nissan car that happens to run on electricity as opposed to petrol. There’s no learning curve to the car, you just hit the start button and go! Anyone can drive this and this is key for Nissan if they plan on selling many.
I could talk some more about the satellite navigation which shows you not only how far you can drive on the map, but also where all the chargers are located. Or I could talk about how you tell it when to charge at night to draw cheaper electricity, how it e-mails you when its fully charged, how you can tell it to turn on the air-conditioning or heating while its plugged in as it draws electricity from the mains and means you don’t need to use it while you’re driving.
This car is awesome, simple as.
My test-drive wasn’t long enough for me to comment properly on real-world range or charging times but I know a journey from Cork city to Tralee, Kerry (121km and the furthest I’ll ever drive without taking a train or flying) is perfectly do-able, the range didn’t seem to drop very much even when I booted it to 83km/hr on the drive back to the dealership. Driving in ECO mode (which limits your accelerating aggression and increases regenerative braking, thus recycling more energy) will give you a few more kilometers but I doubt the majority of people will need them. Cork – Dublin will be possible when the fast chargers (which provides 80% or ~120km in 25 minutes) are installed on all national roads (one roughly every 60km).
Nissan are marketing the LEAF as the new car. I absolutely believe it is. Its the iPod to the internal combustion engine’s Walkman. Its not intimidating, its easier to drive, easier and cheaper to fuel but its still a car. Its still 5 doors on 4 wheels with pedals and a steering wheel. Its the car 2.0 and it will put the biggest grin on your face.
The specs:
Price: 29,995€ after a 5,000€ government rebate.
Range: 160KM according to the LA4 driving cycle
Running cost/yr: 232€ (based on 19,000km a year)
Top speed: 140km/hr
0-60km/hr: no-one has timed it but it seems nippy!
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