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02/06/2011
REVIEW By EWAN KENNEDY
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Nissan’s electric car, with the green name of Leaf was reviewed by us from Europe two months ago. Now we have had our first Australian drive of what the Japanese giant considers to be the way of the future for many people.
The Nissan Leaf and other electric cars are mainly regarded as an important way to reduce air pollution, but also help trim our reliance on crude oil coming from countries where supply can be erratic.
The Nissan Leaf was almost fully charged when we stepped into it at Nissan’s offices in Brisbane. It showed a potential range of 137 kilometres. A display indicated this could be increased by six km had we turned the air conditioning off. Putting the Leaf into full Eco mode saw the range lift to a useful 154 km. The Eco mode stops the driver from accelerating too hard and even normal acceleration is muted to take longer than usual.
A display on the satellite navigation screen showed circles on the map indicating to where the Nissan Leaf could travel and also showed the positions of fast-charge stations. Unfortunately, this information was provided for London as our road test car was British spec and had been flown in for these demonstrations. But it did give a good idea of what Australian imports will be able to achieve
Driving the Nissan Leaf simply means a gear selector that looks more like a computer mouse than a normal gear lever, from Park into either Reverse or Drive. Moving the lever from Drive to Park then back into Drive a second time engages the Eco mode. We didn’t find this particularly intuitive but you would presumably get used to it.
As with all electric cars we’ve driven the first sensation in the Nissan Leaf is of instant acceleration and near silent running. There’s no noise from the motor and it’s not until the Leaf reaches a fair speed you begin to hear tyre noise and the rush of air over the body. Cleverly the headlights have been shaped to push air away from the outside mirrors, so that normal source of wind noise is almost negated.
On the road the Leaf accelerates fast and responds in a most satisfying manner to ‘throttle’ inputs. When the Leaf slows down, and even more so when you use the brakes, energy that’s being reduced is sent back into the battery to be used again.
Unlike other electric vehicles we have driven to date (Mitsubishi, Mini, Subaru, Tesla) the Nissan Leaf was designed as an electric car from the ground up, so doesn’t suffer the same compromises as cars modified from their original use with petrol engines.
Interior space in the Nissan Leaf is good for four adults though there’s restricted foot room under the front seats due to under-floor batteries being installed in that area. What appears to be good knee-room is somewhat spoiled by this.
The boot is very deep and has a good volume, but there’s a high barrier containing charging equipment at the back of the boot (i.e. towards the front of the car). 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.
Nissan’s Leaf won’t be sold in Australia until midway through 2012 and its price is yet to be set, though we would like to speculate the recommended retail will be under $55,000. Which is big money for what is likely to be the second car for most families, but costs will come down rapidly as sales go up and research pulls down manufacturing costs.
Nissan isn’t just sticking a toe in the water with the Leaf, it’s midterm plans are to be selling as many as half a million of them every year worldwide. This economy of scale will also help to lower prices.
Nissan is already lobbying Australian governments to support electric cars to make them more feasible for the average buyer. Assistance could be by direct subsidies, low or no registration charges, assistance with setting up a charging infrastructure, by allowing electric cars in transit lanes even with only one occupant, or all of the above, plus some more.
There are many ways governments can help Australians buy electric cars, but Nissan, and others, are finding it a hard battle here in comparison with its success in many other countries. |
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