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TEST DRIVE: Inhabitat Conquers Range Anxiety in the All-Electric Nissan LEAF
Posted By
Yuka Yoneda
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Automotive,Electric Vehicles,Innovations,Transportation |
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First off, what does it take to keep a Nissan LEAF juiced up and happy? You can plug it into a standard grounded household outlet (110-120 volts) and get a full charge in 7 hours, or you can plug it into a high-voltage quick charger for an 80% charge in 30 minutes or a full charge in 2 hours. Those are workable numbers–just barely–but that means a convenient charge only if you happen to have quick chargers in your area. The best solution for the moment is to purchase one for your garage, but our favorite feature in the LEAF is that the car has an entire menu to help you locate quick chargers on your drive. Quick chargers are still few and far between outside of progressive cities like San Francisco or Portland, but if there is a charger in your area, the LEAF won’t make you download an app or bookmark a website to find it. Just push the charging menu button and it will locate all stations in your drivable radius.
So once you have your LEAF charged up, where can you go, and do you need to keep an anxious eye on your estimated range meter that tells you how many miles you have left till you’re on the shoulder? We noticed that our test car got the most out of its 90-mile average total rangewhen we drove the car at moderate speeds–about 30-40 miles per hour. Slow driving dragged that down a bit, but what really killed our range was highway driving. We noticed 1 estimated mile of range drop for every .1-.2 miles we traveled above 60 miles per hour. That means you’ll drive like an old fogie on the highway in the LEAF, guaranteed, at least if you want to guarantee you get to grandma’s house.
One night we didn’t charge the test car because we weren’t planning on driving much the next day. But the following day we had to make urgent trips to the doctor and pharmacy, which ran us past our range limit. We stopped for several hours to recharge in town at a relative’s house, and still got home with a low-battery warning after adding 9 miles to our total range with the stop. Moral of the story: expect the unexpected and plug this puppy in every night. If you do have to stop at a friend’s house to fill up, though, make it an electric car-hating buddy, because nothing gives them more joy than seeing a limping EV pull into their safe harbor. It’s the considerate thing to do.
The Nissan LEAF is the most car-like all-electric car we have driven so far. Other than its silent propulsion, it is indistinguishable from a Nissan hatchback, so you get normal storage, legroom, standard features, and so on. But beware that like other electric cars, using the HVAC system will set you back 13 miles of range, so just like the Mitsubishi i, the LEAF is best driving in moderate climates or in more extreme climates if you live close to your charger.
+ Nissan
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Inhabitat has been following the development of a bevy of electric cars, but the question for the average driver remains: Will an electric car leave you stranded? The issue is so common it has a name: range anxiety. The all-electric Nissan LEAF was Car
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Our first concern with the LEAF was that the range would fall far below the expected 90 miles, but our tester actually pulled out a few runs of 100+ miles.
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The wheels aren’t low-rolling-resistance like on the Chevy Volt, so you can drive over a variety of surfaces without skidding. But the car is so quiet that driving over larger gravel is irritatingly noisy.
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The LEAF’s headlights protrude from the hood of the car. Whether that’s a good thing comes down to personal taste.
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Long headlights match the extended taillights, which are really the only clues that this average-looking car is a futuristic green vehicle.
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Standard mirrors, standard everything, except that drivetrain.
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The antenna is adorable, but cats think so too, so you may want to park your LEAF inside.
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The LEAF uses a small solar panel to power non-essential systems. We love the diamond design and how it compactly fits on the back of the car’s roof.
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The hatch extends a bit past the back wheels, which gives the car the look of a guinea pig in the back, but it helps give you average storage in the rear.
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You won’t see these taillights on any other car on the road.
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We liked how the rear window was less rakishly angled than other green hatchbacks we have driven. This means less reflective glare from the sky.
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The LEAF has won all sorts of awards already, including World Car of the Year 2011.
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The charger cable comes with its own backpack strapped to the side of the storage compartment.
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It’s a good thing the LEAF has heated seats, because these are an efficient way to keep yourself comfortable in cold weather instead of killing your range by cranking the heat.
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Nissan is planning to release an entire range of electric vehicles based on the LEAF’s powertrain, and with this green power already integrated into the company’s standard interior equipment, we think they can get these cars to market faster than any other automaker.
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It’s a relief to have a nicely weighted driver door on the LEAF. Some electric cars sound like tin cans when you slam the non-insulated doors.
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Also nice are the power controls on all doors. Manual windows are cheaper and lighter, but these keep your life simple.
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It’s a little inconvenient to have to push a button by your left knee to reset the trip computer and control other functions way up on the display above the steering wheel, but it works.
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The LEAF charges in the front. Just be sure to pull the correct lever, or you will release the nearby trunk lid by mistake.
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The only truly confusing thing on our test car was the efficiency meter on the left of this top display, which is a dial over a pine tree shape that is supposed to “grow leaves” as you drive more efficiently. It doesn’t make a lick of sense in the real world, and you will ignore it.
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The lower instrument cluster display also features a slightly confusing efficiency meter, in the form of an arc of dots that shows when you are recharging your battery by braking and when you are using a little (or a lot) of power by accelerating. It’s an awful lot of digital real estate to spend on one function.
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The steering wheel is just fine, except that one of the buttons sticks out a bit too far and tends to snag your hand.
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Like all other electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, the LEAF has push button start.
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The car’s audio and HVAC controls are compactly arranged and work well. But you won’t want to touch the HVAC as it strips 13 miles off your estimated range when you turn it on.
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Navigation works well, and automatically switches to night lighting mode, which is always nice.
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Our favorite menu by far was the charging menu, where you can program a timed charge for your vehicle, find a charging station by location or proximity to your location, and monitor the battery system.
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Charging is such a big deal with this car that the charging menu gets its own button on the bottom right to pull up your options.
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The LEAF is available with satellite radio and all the usual fixings.
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We like how obvious the On/Off button is in the center of the HVAC controls, because we regularly flipped the system on just for a moment and then wanted to be sure it was totally turned off a minute later.
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The front of the center console has a nice cubby for smart phones, heated seat controls, and average size cupholders.
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This Nissan LEAF features a unique electric gear shifter that is similar to the plug-in Prius’s. Flick it left and then up or down to put it drive or reverse.
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The parking brake is electric too, making it a ton of fun to push the button to turn the car on, flick the car into gear, and pull the parking brake off with just three quick movements.
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The LEAF shows a nice attention to detail in the rear seat. You are getting a decent car from front to back.
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Simple controls, but again power everything. If the LEAF works for your commute, it will work for your life.
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