Nissan LEAF: Something of a Different Experience!

It might be new to South Africa, but the LEAF, Nissan's ground breaking all-electric family car, has been around for a while. First launched in 2010, more than 130 000 units have been sold worldwide â€" most of those to city dwellers. A single drop in the total car-sales bucket perhaps, but however, a realistic taste of our motoring future. As much as we love the internal combustion engine, electric motors are sure to replace them in due course.

And judging by the driving experience on offer in the LEAF, the future might not be at all unpleasant. An uncannily hushed, relaxing cabin compensates for the absenteeism of any soundtrack, and driving it is like sitting inside a life-sized video game â€" complete with cartoon-like styling inside and out, a horde of buttons on the controller (steering wheel) and digital chimes upon start-up.
This impression disappears once you get moving, though. There is nothing toy-like about its driving experience, apart from over-assisted steering. The presentation is reasonable, with 80 kW and 253 Nm going to the front wheels. Electric motors deliver their full torque output from standstill, which means that the LEAF takes off pretty briskly, getting up to 100 km/h in 11.5 seconds, on the way to a ruled top speed of 144 km/h.
The effect of those healthy output figures are somewhat blunted by its weight, for the heavy batteries contribute to a kerb weight around 1500kg â€" roughly 200kg more than an equivalently-sized petrol hatchback. Nissan mounted the batteries under the rear seats to keep this excess weight as close to the ground as possible, in the process producing a spacious cabin and cavernous luggage compartment.
Keeping the weight low down also allows surprisingly capable handling dynamics. The LEAF feels securely planted with plenty of road grip for its performance level, in spite of wearing moderately skinny tyres. It is no sports car, but there is still some fun to be had when the road gets twisty, and the very rigid body shell imparts a sense of firmness.
This impression of quality extends to the sound isolation. Because the piston engine is absent, there is no mechanical clatter to drown out the intrusion of wind- and road noise. That means that Nissan had to pay particular care to quieting these sources. To this end, aerodynamic tricks reduce wind roar past the cabin, while road rumble is also well-contained.
The combined result is spookily quiet. It glides down the freeway as calmly as any executive saloon, the obedient suspension soaking up most road irregularities and isolating the cabin from the world outside. The luxury extends past low noise levels and a smooth ride, for the LEAF has a long gear list, with most modern luxuries included as standard. Safety passes are strong too, with 6 airbags and a 5-star Euro-NCAP safety rating.
Though, the highway is a hostile environment to the LEAF: sustained high speeds, frequent hastening requests and amplified aerodynamic drag results in a battery that runs dry way too quickly. The driver has to anticipate traffic behaviour and use the regenerative braking function as often as possible, converting the car's kinetic energy back into battery power, all in an determination to eke out a few more kilometres from a charge.
When the proper technique is accepted, the LEAF rewards its driver with a little "tree" icon on the dashboard that grows when energy is being used efficiently, and dies off when the driver gets too antagonistic with the accelerator pedal. Needless to say, that tree does not grow on the freeway. Nissan reckons a range of 195 km is likely, but buyers should agree that 140 km is an upper limit in real-world traffic circumstances.
This is a very powerful incentive to adopt a careful driving style: conserving enough energy to make it back to the standard-equipment wall-plug charger for another 6 to 7 hour charging session. Of course, electricity costs far less than petrol and the LEAF, uses a claimed 150Wh per kilometre - an equivalent cost of about 2 litres of petrol for every 100 km travelled.
Range concerns become far less significant around town or on short commutes. For trips of around 60 km each way, the LEAF makes a lot more sense. Any further than that will demand a visit to the quick chargers (for 45 minutes or so) at selected Nissan dealerships.
With a price tag of about R450 000, and no government rebates like in Europe and the USA, the Nissan LEAF will make sense if it is only to be used as a city centre commuter. Contrary to the proposals of the spacious, comfortable cabin, limited battery range (the common problem with almost all electric cars) disqualifies the LEAF from general use. For the time being, it will continue as a striking novelty, but at least the Nissan LEAF gives hope that our electric future is not totally empty of character and enjoyment.
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Source : articlesbase.com