2014 Nissan LEAF Reviews

Can the Nissan Leaf compete with the legendary Datsun 240Z in a drag race?

Nissan Leaf is the world’s first purpose-designed, mass-production electric car. Australia has become one of the first countries to receive what is potentially the cleanest car of them all.With a not inconsiderable recommended retail price of $51,500 the Nissan Leaf isn’t for everyone, but Nissan Australia is confident it will sell several hundred every year to companies, governments and private individuals keen to do more than their fair share of minimising carbon dioxide output.Globally, Nissan’s midterm plan is to sell as many as half a million Leafs. Economies of scale will help to lower prices, as will better and cheaper batteries. The cost of the battery packs currently makes up about 25 per cent of the price.The Nissan people we spoke to at the launch of the Leaf are becoming increasingly irritated at the lack of action by Australian governments in supporting electric cars. Assistance could be by direct subsidies, lower registration charges, even simple things like allowing electric cars in transit lanes even when there’s just one occupant.Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV, introduced over a year back, is also a pure-electric car, but is based on an existing petrol model. Though the Leaf can be charged from any normal 10-amp household socket it will take something like 15 to 20 to do so from fully flat. A minimum of a 15-amp setup is suggested.The latter will charge the car from empty in about eight hours and the installation will cost only a few hundred dollars. Origin Energy has teamed with Nissan Australia to provide fast chargers, These can take a Leaf to about 80 per cent of its charge in half an hour. Nissan expects that locations like shopping centres, fast-food outlets and convenience stores will provide electric car charging free of charge.Most electric cars will cost only one to two dollars to charge. McDonald’s, for example, offers free wireless internet to attract customers and may well do the same to get electric car drivers through their doors. Initially there will be 13 specialised Leaf dealerships in Australia, with more to be appointed later. These will be in all capital cities and on the Gold Coast. Major country cities will follow later.Interior space in the Nissan Leaf is good for four adults though there’s restricted foot room under the front seats due to underfloor batteries being installed in that area. What appears to be good knee-room is rather spoiled by this. The boot is deep, but there’s a high barrier containing charging equipment at the back of the boot.The rear seat backrests fold flat to line up with the height of this barrier so some oversize loads simply won’t fit. Careful packing will let you get plenty of normal luggage in there. The Nissan Leaf and other electric cars are chiefly regarded as a way to reduce air pollution, but also having the added advantage of reducing Australia’s reliance on crude oil being imported from countries where supply can be erratic.On the downside, EV’s range is still marginal and Australia currently has some of the dirtiest electricity generation on the planet. Owners will almost certainly opt for clean electricity, indeed typically buyers have probably been doing so for several years. It’s now up to the governments to use the carbon tax to clean up the electricity generation act.We have driven Nissan Leafs in Geneva, Brisbane and now Sydney, the latter being the location for the Australian launch. We have only driven them for about 70 kilometres in total, so aren’t exactly experts. We certainly have a good feel for the vehicle. The Leaf accelerates hard and responds in a most satisfying manner to ‘throttle’ inputs.When the Nissan EV slows down, and even more so when you use the brakes, kinetic energy is sent back into the battery to be used again. There is virtually no noise from the electric motor and it’s not until the Leaf reaches about 40 km/h that you begin to hear tyre noise and the rush of air over the body. Cleverly the outside mirrors have been shaped to push air away from the outside mirrors, so that normal source of wind noise is almost negated.The Leaf has been designed from the ground up as an electric car, with all that means in the way of minimising compromises.

Of all the electric cars I have driven, the Nissan Leaf is the most complete.It looks like a regular compact hatch, its performance is quite spritely, and it rides and handles with none of the compromises of other electric cars. It is virtually silent, which takes some adjustment, but it keeps up with suburban traffic and promises a workable range between charges.It has the best chance of sparking a breakthrough in Australia, although the size of the jolt depends on the pricing - which needs to be around $45,000 - and the number of Leafs available for sale.In contrast, the Mitsubishi iMiEV feels more like an overgrown golf cart than a real car. It might be a ground breaker as the first plug-in battery car sold here by a major maker, but it costs too much, is limited in range and performance, and is really just an electric conversion of a Japanese minicar.The same is true of the Subaru Stella, which only made a fleeting demonstration run in Australia. The Mini E is a good car, with great performance, but it's still only a science experiment and the back seat is totally sacrificed to the battery pack.I've just had a run in the Smart ForTwo in Germany and it's good, but the electric model needs more punch and battery life. It's coming, and the Smart EV is confirmed for Australia, but the baby-box looks means it won't work for everyone and there is always the question of price.I've also tried fully-electric cars from Honda, Renault, Toyota and Volvo, as well as the impressive range-extended GM Volt hybrid - which uses a petrol engine to charge onboard batteries - that will be a winner here as a Holden, provided the price is right.But, for now, you cannot go past the Leaf if you want to plug, charge and go. The landmark Nissan is the best drive of any electric car I know, it's practical and very well built, and Nissan is planning a full-scale push including all the charging advice and hardware needed for a new-age drive.Life with an electric car is not easy. For a start, you must have a plug-in point at home. And not just a regulation drill-saw-vacuum connection in the garage, but something that can deliver real punch.At the other end of your commute there needs to be a similar charger, but those are taking time.Carsguide plans to get a Nissan Leaf on the fleet soon and, through Nissan and ChargePoint, there will soon be a plug-in point wired into a three-phase circuit to my garage. But I'm not sure about sucking up power on the road, because - unlikely petrol stations - the electric automotive grid is still in its infancy.There is talk that some of the roadside assistance organisations, led by the RACV, will have fast-charge emergency trailers for electric owners who get too ambitious and flatten their batteries. But nothing is confirmed.In Europe this week I'm hearing from Toyota about a wired house that is totally adapted to electric cars, including feeding power back to the grid and intelligent charging that can be monitored through an iPhone App. And even solar charging stations, both for home use and like the ones I saw in Detroit last year to provide power to a fleet of GM Volts.But the promises are more like election campaigning than right-now reality, so let's see how we go - and where we go - once the Leaf is online.

Road rage will be a thing of the past when electric cars rule.

Imagine being able to travel through time. To jump forward to the future and see what sort of cars we will all be driving in the years to come.That's exactly what we did this week when we travelled from Homebush to Penrith in Sydney's west behind the wheel of Nissan fully electric car — the Leaf. If that's what the future holds, then bring it on because the Leaf was so much better than expected.Nissan hopes the car will become the Prius of electric vehicles.Running costs are negligible. Fully charging Leaf during the off peak period costs as little as 10 cents per kWh — or $2.40 for a full charge. This could put a lot of service stations out of business, not to mention the environmental benefits if you pay a little extra for green power.Nissan hopes to offer the for sale to the public by May or June next year, with the price to be revealed closer to launch. It won't be cheap, but then Leaf is a premium vehicle with lots of luxury inclusions — think around $49,990 and you're probably in the ballpark.It's a large, comfortable five-door hatch with plenty of rear legroom that will seat four adults comfortably — five at a pinch. Looks can be deceiving because it looks like there is an engine under the bonnet but the electric motor is actually located further back.You don't really notice the lack of engine noise, because there's plenty of other noise to compensate — but as a precaution below 40km/h it generates an artificial warning for pedestrians. Powered by an 80kW electric motor that generates 280Nm of torque (same as a Golf GTI), Leaf offers surprisingly strong performance. Switch to Eco mode and it takes the punch out of the throttle but gives the car a 10 per cent greater range.Range, the big drawback with electric vehicles, is a claimed 170km — but this varies greatly depending on the weather and the way in which the car is being driven.At 110km/h on the motorway, for instance, the 24kWh lithium-ion battery pack is quickly depleted and, if the remaining charge falls below 4kWh — power output is cut by 50 per cent and speed capped at 20km/h. Maximum speed is 145km/h.With the trip computer showing just 20km to empty after our brief sojourn on down the motorway, we began to get anxious about whether we'd make it home — but the situation never reach crisis point. This is called "range anxiety" and Nissan is trying to change this to "awareness", with standard satnav for example that tell you where the nearest charging station is located.Leaf is an impressive car and one that could easily take the place of that petrol guzzler in the driveway, provided you don't travel long distances. But Nissan is up front about the fact that it is not the car for everyone. Unless your have two cars, drive less than 100-120km each day and have off street parking, Nissan will recommend against buying the car.Nissan also recommends installing a proper charge point at home.The car comes with a special cable but at the very least requires the installation of a special wall socket on a dedicated 10amp circuit — the full monty will cost about $2000 but allow you to fully exploit the car's green potential.Quick charging the battery to 80 per cent capacity takes less than 30 minutes, but a full trickle charge takes up to eight hours. Nissan recommends against fast charging more than once a week of it could reduce battery life. If you're caught short so to speak Nissan's roadside assistance will send a flat bed truck to collect the car or give provide a quick charge to get you going using a portable generator. You can't just plug in to someone's extension lead.

The battery-powered Leaf is a real car, not just a science experiment, and surprisingly nice to drive. We don't know yet about the price, which could easily jump beyond $60,000, and you have to ask serious questions about electric cars in a land of brown coal power stations.Still, Nissan has done an impressive job and, after driving a whole range of electric cars in recent years - including the Mitsubishi iMiEv, Subaru Stella, MiniE and even the Chevrolet Volt - it currently leads the field. Then again, you cannot buy one yet and any talk about the Leaf must include the dreaded words 'range anxiety', which apply to any form of transport that relies solely on juice from a battery. Nissan says it will have trucks ready to rescue a Leaf that runs out of charge.VALUEThis one is impossible to answer. We don't know the price, except it's likely to be around three times more than the sticker of the similarly-sized, petrol-powered Mazda3, and we also don't know how much it will cost to charge or replace - if necessary - the battery pack.Still, Nissan is pushing ahead fast with the Leaf and says the car is a commercial reality. It is also transferring the technology across to its global alliance partner, Renault, and has a number of Leaf spin-off models on the drawing boards including a sporty coupe.TECHNOLOGYEverything about the Leaf is new and unique, from the basic body through to the lithium-ion battery pack, low-energy air-conditioning and seat trim made from recycled plastic bottles. More than 90 per cent of the car is claimed to be recyclable, and the bumpers are made from ... recycled bumpers.The Leaf has clever low-drag bodywork and tyres - not really new, as they are similar to the Toyota Prius - but has a 250-kilogram lithium-ion battery pack under the floor that feeds an electric motor with high-tech transmission. It means 280 Newton-metres of torque for realistic real-world performance.The technology never seems to stop, right down to special sat nav that automatically tracks the location of the nearest plug-in recharge points. It would be easy to write a book on the technology in the Leaf, and someone is probably doing it now.DESIGNThe Leaf looks good - slightly tasty, slightly different, but not weirdoid and definitely more than just a golf cart with a big battery pack. The size is Mazda3-Corolla compatible and, unlike the Volt that has a very cramped rear seat, most people would not pick it as a battery car by the shape or cabin.Design work includes a nice plug-in point hidden in the nose, a special charger cable that comes with the car, and the high-tech dashboard display that allows the driver to track every system in the car for maximum efficiency and to prevent the disaster of a flat battery.SAFETYNissan promises five-star NCAP and the Leaf should deliver. It has all the usual safety systems - ABS brakes, ESP stability control and airbags - as well as a special electrical cut-off for a crash and a metal safety cell around the battery, which is housed below the floor in the middle of the car for maximum impact protection.DRIVINGNice. That's the one-word verdict on the Leaf. It is comfy and quiet, idiot-proof to start and drive - although you must keep a wary watch for pedestrians who don't notice the silent newcomer - and has impressive suspension, steering and brakes.Most people would not pick it as a battery car, except for the lack of noise from an internal combustion engine in the nose. And the lack of noise they would enjoy in the cabin when the car is driving. This Leaf is one of two that have been rushed to Australia for an electric-car trial by the Victorian government, and Carsguide only has a 30-kilometre drive for a taste test in suburban Melbourne.The Leaf is a long way down the electric road from a Mitsubishi iMiEV or Subaru Stella, or even the MiniE, which I have driven in the past. It is more practical than a Volt, although the GM car has an onboard petrol engine that extends the range and eliminates fears of a total battery drain. It's a genuine production car, which means all the touch-and-feel stuff is just like every other Nissan.The ride and handling, too, is impressively 'normal'. The Leaf has an impressive turn of pace and easily keeps ahead of most traffic away from the lights. It is very very quiet up to 80km/h and the air-con works well.The high-tech displays take some learning, but the computers say there is 130 kilometres of driving range and that falls only marginally during my 20-kilometre run. Switching to Eco mode and killing the aircon stretches the distance to a planned plug-in by around 20 kilometres.This is only Day One of the Leaf story in Australia, and it's very hard to make a genuine assessment without a price tag - estimated at $60,000, or roughly three times the price of a Corolla - but the signs look good. Now, if only Australia had more sources of green power to fuel this green machine."This car is real," the boss of Nissan Australia, Dan Thompson, says simply. He is right. But the reality includes a lot more questions that need answers before the world slides across from oil to electric, including the start date for sales to ordinary Australians and the crucial price tag.VERDICTA real-world electric car that sets the benchmark.NISSAN LEAFPrice: estimated $60,000Engine: 80kW AC synchronous motorTransmission: single-speed reduction gear, front-wheel driveFuel: electricity, 8-hour trickle charge or 3-hour fast chargeBattery: 24kW-hour lithium ionRange: claimed 130kmBody: five-door hatchEmissions: zero (car)

ONE day Nissan’s powerful Nurburgring-blitzkrieging GT-R might be an electric vehicle.  At least that is the hope of Nissan chief operating officer Toshiyuki Shiga.“EV is fun to drive,” the company’s number two says, pointing out that the 180km/h Japanese Bullet train uses an electric motor.  “One day GT-R will be an EV. It’s my favourite car,” he says at the world media preview of the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle in Japan this week.“The weight is low in this car because of the battery under the floor so it handles well,” he says, making joyous “whooshing noises” as he mimics driving a car.  Shiga may be enthusiastic about the driving dynamics of the Leaf, but like all electric cars it feels as exciting as stepping on to an escalator.Certainly there is instant throttle response because of the flat torque curve of an electric motor and there is linear acceleration, but after the initial punch it feels lifeless.  There is simply no sensation of speed or acceleration. This is not only due to the linear response and lack of explosive power, but also because there is so little sound and no engine vibe.The Leaf looks like any five-door hatchback, not some goofy space-age golf buggy like other electric cars and concept models.  The only telltale signs that this is something different are the small hatch at the front which conceals the plug-in charging points, the bulbous but aerodynamic blue LED headlights that divert air over the door mirrors to reduce wind noise by 3dB, and the solar panel on the rear wing which helps charge the supplementary battery that powers the auxiliary equipment such as the audio, satnav and cabin lights.Like most aerodynamically designed vehicles, there are the usual problems with vision through the A and C pillars while the neat rear end is sawn-off so there is only a small cargo area and no spare tyre under the floor.The only clues in the cabin that this is an EV are the smaller-than-usual transmission knob and the instrument pods.  One instrument binnacle above the steering wheel supplies time, speed and ambient temperature.Another binnacle inside the steering wheel shows battery charge and temperature, odometer, trip meter, transmission selected and a meter that shows how economically you are driving.The seats are velour and cushy, there is plenty of leg and headroom front and back and the steering wheel includes cruise and audio controls, but is adjustable for height only, not reach and feels a little off-centre to the driver.  Leaf doesn’t have a luxury feel, but it’s a comfortable cabin atmosphere.Nissan Australia CEO Dan Thompson said it was too early to comment on specification levels for us, except to say that it will arrive in 2012 in one trim level.It is powered by an 80kW/280Nm electric motor with a stack of flat, laminated lithium-ion batteries under the floor.  The Leaf battery stack is integrated into the chassis so it is not suitable to battery swap technology.The car weighs 1.6 tonne, but with that low and central mass of heavy batteries it gives the car a very balanced feel.  The battery can be charged in about eight hours on 240V or quick-charged to 80 per cent capacity in 30 minutes.The car will communicate with Nissan HQ via satellite, internet and mobile phone to help users remotely turn on the airconditioning before they get in the car, check on their battery charge status and set a timer to charge the battery.Nissan provided four pre-production vehicles for the first media test drives on its Grandrive proving ground circuit at Yokohama.  However, with more than 500 motoring journalists from around the world given a short drive on the smooth circuit, drive time was limited.Drive impressions were also hampered by Nissan representatives who were in the car to answer questions and act as a ‘human handbrake’ on enthusiastic driving.  Despite limited drive time, it feels nimble enough for normal driving duties.It has light steering that gets markedly heavier off-centre, yet it feels stable at speed and changes direction quickly.  EV senior manager Shigetoshi Tokuoka says the handling is effected by centrally located batteries, electronic stability control and a rigid chassis that integrates the battery.Cars with heavy internal combustion engines in the front have difficulty moving that mass in a corner. However, with the 250kg battery in the centre of the car, Leaf turns lightly on its axis improving change of direction, cornering and lane-changing.As for the motor, Leaf chief product specialist Tooru Abe explains that the driver will have ‘a different kind of relationship with EV to a conventional petrol engine’.  “Compared to a gasoline engine, the electric motor is more suitable for driving with instantaneous torque and you don’t have to shift the gears.“Our electric motor has a Nissan-specific control system that enables a quick response for smooth driving and acceleration.”  A drive impression wouldn’t be complete without comment on the eerie lack of noise.The engineers were so concerned that the lack of noise would draw attention to other sounds, they devoted their energy toward muting wind buffeting around the roof-mounted antenna, tyre howl and even the wiper motor hum.When the driver hits the start button they are greeted by a chiming melody like booting up a Windows PC.  As you pull away there is a muffled whistling sound in the cabin and a slight jet whine outside to alert pedestrians. It can be switched off manually or will automatically turn off over 30km/h.In reverse it gives off a feint beeping sound to warn pedestrians.  In normal transmission mode there is instant acceleration and a coasting feel when off the throttle.Eco mode feels like it has changed up a gear. It also reduces the airconditioning effectiveness and when you take your foot off the throttle, it activates more regenerative braking to recharge the battery.  If you floor the ‘loud’ pedal in Eco mode, it reacts the same as in normal mode.Leaf picks up speed imperceptibly and because it is so quiet it is easy to drift over the speed limit.The world’s first mass- market EV is a refined and well-thought-out package. But it still feels like driving a vacuum cleaner. 

Meet George Jetson’s new car. It may not fly, but the Nissan Leaf runs entirely on electricity, can automatically charge itself without having to plug in and will send its owner a text message when it’s fully charged.The 95 per cent production-ready electric vehicle was unveiled at the official opening of the company’s global headquarters in Yokohama.While bristling with technology, the Leaf looks like any five-door small family hatchback; even less radical than the Toyota Prius hybrid.The only telling feature of the streamlined hatch is the blank looking front since there is no radiator grille. It doesn’t need one as the electric motor has less cooling requirements than an internal combustion engine.Nissan Australia senior corporate communications manager Jeffrey Fisher said the Nissan EV would go into production next year and be available in Australia in 2012.He said the vehicle was 95 per cent production ready, so most of the sleek design and interior computer graphics will be retained in the production version.Nissan product planning chief Andy Palmer said the Leaf would be “the same price as a similar C segment car” plus the cost of the battery. “We haven’t decided on the final price yet. We will lease the battery but the cost of operating the vehicle will be less than a similar C segment vehicle.The Leaf is powered by a front-mounted synchronous AC electric motor designed and developed in house and delivering 80kW of power and 280Nm of torque. The 24kWh capacity laminated compact lithium-ion battery pack is housed under the floor so it doesn’t compromise cabin or cargo space. It consists of 48 slimline modules comprising four flat cell batteries, rather than conventional cylindrical batteries for more efficient cooling.Nissan battery pack design chief Sadao Miki said the lithium-ion batteries developed by Nissan are also lighter, more compact, cheaper, more reliable and have a longer life. The batteries are made in Japan by Automotive Energy Supply Company which is a joint initiative established in 2007 with NEC.The car has a range of about 160km on the open road without airconditioning and about 20 per cent less in the city. It can be recharged off 240-volt mains in eight hours or 80 per cent charged on special quick charge “pumps” in about 30 minutes.A small pop-up section of the nose underneath the Nissan badge has two sockets for the mains or quick charge plugs. Three blue lights on the dashboard indicate charging progress with all three lit when full.The thin battery pack is located under the floor providing a flat interior floor and smooth air-flow under the car, reducing aerodynamic drag.Nissan EV spokesman Toshimi Abo says the Leaf will be backed by a global data centre that integrates satellite navigation and the internet to ensure the car is always charged and available for use.This includes a display on the car’s satnav map that shows the maximum range of the vehicle for the current state of battery charge and the location of recharging stations within the range radius.It also features a timer function which will start the car’s airconditioner or battery charging at a specified time.The air-conditioner can be programmed to cool or warm the cabin to a set temperature while the vehicle is being charged so that it doesn’t drain the vehicle's battery.Charging can be set to start at a specified time at night to benefit from cheaper electricity rates and can be programmed and monitored by mobile phone or the internet.A text message can be sent to the driver when the battery is fully charged and the vehicle is ready for use.Nissan Motor Company Australia managing director Dan Thompson said they had already held discussions with all levels of government about a range of incentives that would help convince motorists to go electric.“The states have been the most receptive,” he said. “Three years (before the electric car arrives) seems like a long time, but to get the infrastructure in place it isn’t.Thompson said they would also talk to companies such as shopping centres, cinema chains, fast food outlets as well as service stations about installing battery charging infrastructure.“We’ll talk to any business that wants to keep people longer at their business,” he said.Thompson said they would target fleet sales first, then private buyers.On Friday, Journalists were given a one-lap drive around the company’s Yokohama testing ground in an electric Tiida test vehicle which features the same drivetrain platform as the new electric vehicle.The little hatch was noticeably quieter, smoother and more torquey than the petrol model. While it doesn’t pull as smartly off the line as some hybrids, it has a linear power delivery. Steering feels heavy and the car turns in a little slow thanks to the 150kg extra weight.However, that weight, which is mostly due to the 300kg battery, is placed low and central, and with a lighter motor than the petrol engine up front, it provides an almost 50-50 weight balance.There is no engine compression effect, so it doesn’t slow when you take your foot off the accelerator. It therefore requires extra braking coming into corners, an issue with which drivers will have to become familiar.