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| Nissan's Leaf on tour |
Nissan's new, all electric
Leaf automobile is touring the country.
US Person test drove the vehicle in Oregon. Although the test drive was too brief, he formed a very favorable first impression of the electric car. The
Leaf is a quantum leap beyond General Motor's EV-1 that was test marketed in California and Arizona in the mid 1990s. "This is a car my mother can drive today", said the enthusiastic company representative in response to a question about subsequent advancements in battery technology and smart instrumentation. Nissan has a history of developing electric vehicle technology that goes back to 1947 with its
Tama vehicle. In 1996 the company was the first to utilize lithium battery technology in its
Prairie Joy vehicle. The
Leaf is powered by modular, flat battery packs that can be replaced individually, if necessary. Nissan engineers apparently have solved the problems of battery overheating, rapid fading, and charging 'memory'. The battery assembly adds 600 lbs to the vehicle gross weight of 3500 lbs, the same weight as a Chevy
Volt. Unlike the
Volt, the Leaf's motive power is totally electric. The car even uses a solar panel located on the top of the rear spoiler to recharge a 12 volt lead battery dedicated to powering accessories. The heavy electric powerplant is mounted midway beneath the cabin enhancing the car's cargo space and stable handling characteristics.
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| inspecting the motor |
As the electric blue LX model pulled to the curb for a test drive,
US Person first noticed its eerily quiet operation. Only the tires rolling on wet pavement made an audible sound. He was next impressed with the car's nimble performance. He easily accelerated from zero to fifty in a few seconds without any hesitation for gear shifting. One of the physical advantages of an electric motor over a combustion engine is the immediate availability of torque over the entire rpm range. A robust V-8 pickup only yields 40% power at 1000 rpms while the
Leaf produces 100% power at the same engine speed. A hundred seven horsepower gives the vehicle a top speed of 90 mph. Braking power is firmly immediate and regenerates electrical power to charge the main batteries. Front wheel drive steering is tight and responsive. The hatchback's exterior styling is very aerodynamic with a drag coefficient of only 0.29. Even the prominently mounted headlight assemblies split the wind around the exterior driving mirrors to reduce wind resistence at speed. However, our driver prefers the car's rear and side profiles over the bug-eyed front end.
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| charging batteries |
The interior is made from recyclable materials as is 99% of the car--no top gear leather or woods here. You can have any color interior, as long as it is light gray. Seats are merely comfortable with adequate room in the back for two average adults despite the claim of seating for five. The rear cargo compartment is not stupendously large, but you can get your groceries home, no problem. Instrumentation is a bright spot. You start the
Leaf with the push of a button, provided you have your personalized electronic fob on your person--without it, no go. The shifter is an ergonomically pleasing knob that changes gear with finger pressure. The speedometer is digital, large, and centered above the main panel in an eyebrow arrangement. Performance readouts differ from a combustion engine and will take some time to become familiar. Digital graphics inform the driver of the rate she is using power, driving range remaining, and battery temperature.
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| instrumentation |
The navigation touch screen is a tech geek's delight with plenty of options and displays to fascinate or confuse the user. An owner will be able to interact via mobile device and computer with his vehicle as never before. The car can be programed to pre-warm or pre-cool the interior, but it will not make coffee for you. Perhaps the most useful display screen is energy usage that monitors vehicle energy consumption in real time and suggests how to improve range by turning down the A/C for example. The navigation maps update themselves and include the latest charging station information within the travel range. Charging infrastructure is still in its infancy, so that last bit of information will be important. Now that the J-17-72 electric vehicle plug has been standardized, more charging stations will be available in the near future. XM satellite radio, USB port, and a CD player with six speakers are included.
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| modular battery packs |
The obvious drawback of an all electric vehicle is limited range.
Leaf has an estimated range of 100 miles without recharging. That is enough range for 95% of Americans who drive less than that each day. Of course, as with a conventional car, mileage will vary by terrain, driving habits, and usage. The car is designed to be typically charged overnight when off-peak electric rates are low using a dedicated 220/240 volt charger installed in your garage (24kWh @ 6¢/hr local rates). A customer must purchase the charging unit separately and have it installed by an electrician. The car is equipped with a 110 volt trickle charger for those unexpected situations away from home. Warning: be prepared to wait twenty hours for a full charge using the trickle charger! At the other extreme, a commercial 480 volt DC charger will energize your batteries to 80% in 30 minutes. If you stubbornly ignore the car's repeated electronic suggestions that you recharge now, it goes into "turtle mode" in which nothing works except the steering, brakes and motor--truly an emergency mode. How far "turtle mode" will last no one at the tour site seemed to know. If you are a masochist trying to set a world's single charge distance record with your
Leaf, perhaps the dealer will come to the rescue and tow you to the nearest charger.
The car's lithium batteries are intended to last 8-10 years, and are warranted for eight years. And here lies the rub. The batteries will need replacing by an owner if he intends to keep the vehicle beyond the estimated battery life, or if he wants to take advantage of anticipated improvements in battery technology. No information on battery replacement cost is available from Nissan, yet. Such information is important to prospective buyers wanting to compare operating costs between economic alternatives. No doubt an electric vehicle, with fewer moving parts, has lower maintenance costs; nevertheless batteries are an expensive component of this car's powertrain. The company should consider selling the car with a battery lease option to reduce the car's $25,000 to $32,000 selling price, foster battery recycling, and enhance consumer product satisfaction by offering technological upgrades as part of the lease agreement. The company's tour agent said a lease option was considered for the US marketplace and rejected because such a lease option would violate "lemon laws" that prohibit the sale of a car that could not be driven off the lot once purchased.
US Person seriously doubts most consumer protection statutes pose a real problem to offering a battery lease option with the car's purchase.
No, the
Leaf does not fly, but no doubt the
Leaf is a future car available now. One performance statistic above all affirms this conclusion: zero tailpipe emissions. A Ford
Fusion hybrid emits an estimated 48,310 cu. ft of CO₂, while the
antisocial driver of a Hummer
H3 emits a whopping 134,549 cu. ft. The cute little
Leaf even has a "virtual tree" indicator to let the driver know they are doing their part to save mother Earth.
