Is this car for real? Looks like a standard 4 door compact car.
This is the type of EV we need, not some small commuter thing that not everyone can use.
Yes, this car is for real. Yes, it is a four door compact hatchback. Nissan are so sure about this car they’ve built it as an electric vehicle from the ground up - there is no internal combustion engine version of this car available.
Even more remarkably, there is no equivalent compact car from Nissan that is an internal combustion engine car. If you want a Nissan and you want a compact, its electric or nothing.
It’s about time…I like it!
Hopefully this one will be for sale and not for lease :whip:
Leaving Asian escorts to one side for a moment, Nissan have announced that they have received 56,000 pre-orders for the Nissan Leaf in the United States. They are starting a UK tour for the car in a month’s time and interest in the car is very high here - especially since they have announced that European production will take place in the UK from 2013 onwards.
The LEAF should be in production during 2011 and you Lucky American’s get your paws on them first.
[QUOTE=Zenn;7371]It’s about time…I like it!
Hopefully this one will be for sale and not for lease :whip:[/QUOTE]
It will be both for sale and lease from what I know. I am signed up and on the list. Hope to be one of the first to get one.
Pete 
I drove Nissan EV-12 today, one of the Nissan LEAF development mules. Obviously it is not the same as driving the LEAF itself, but it should be similar in terms of performance. From what I was able to ascertain on my brief test, the drivetrain is very good with rapid performance from a standing start and a very smooth torque curve.
I also sat in one of the pre-production LEAF cars. It is surprisingly roomy with seating for five and an enormous trunk. The interior is very high tech with lots of gadgets to play with.
I am due to get a drive in the proper Nissan LEAF in a couple of months time.
I read where they install a special charger at your home. My question is, if I travel 80 miles away at the end of it’s range can I plug it in and charge it to come back home or is it designed to only charge from the special charger they install in your home. It would be a real deal killer if I am only limited to home charging.
That would be stupid, you really think they’d make you just charge at home? Electric cars must be able to charge away from home too. I think the home charger is a faster charger than just plugging in where handy. However they will have it set up so when public chargers are again put in they will be able to make use of public fast chargers. Just like before. Heck some of those public chargers are still in place and usable.
Pete
My understanding is that in the US, where 110v is used for most household appliances, there will be a faster charger installed in your homes, charging your car from a 240v, 32 amp supply. This will allow you to charge up the car in a quarter of the time than you will from 110v.
However, a 110v charger will also be built into the car so you can charge up whilst you are out and about.
I had a go in the Nissan LEAF development mule recently, and sat in the real Nissan LEAF.
I’ve posted some photographs and a video of the drive on my web site: Nissan Electric Car test drive
According to Nissan Leaf’s website, they are “encouraging g a wide public charging network in the future.” They are also “working to encourage third party and government organizations to grow the charging infrastructure.” It goes on to say that with the growing acceptance of electric vehicles, they assume more charging stations will be planted. In the meantime, I guess the only option for the first owners of the Leaf will have to charge at their home. Hopefully it won’t take too long for them to grow more stations, especially for those who want to take long road trips.
Not quite true. Here in the UK, Nissan are arranging for fast charging points to be installed at all Nissan EV dealers and I believe that is the case across Europe and North America where Nissan dealers who sell the LEAF also have to provide a fast charging point.
I was in Lisbon recently driving a Nissan LEAF there (here are the photos of the event: Nissan LEAF electric car - European press launch | Facebook) and there is a network of fast charging points already in Portugal, which was great to see.
Then of course, there are the slower charging points providing a trickle charge over several hours. Almost every country now has a plan for rolling out these charging points and a few countries are getting pretty close to having a very useful network in place.
the sound is makes is completely negligible which makes very difficult to understand that car is going pass you and i also head that they are now considering to install some kind of sound which will make people understand that cars is some were near them as blind union has taken action against it .
jennifersmith006 - You’re right about the soundlessness! I was approaching a Leaf a couple weeks ago. I thought it was parked… but didn’t realize that the driver had to realign it so he could plug it in. It was backing up and i didn’t even know until I saw it move as i was walking within feet of it. Very disconcerting. Nissan / other EV manufacturers are really going to have to look into that. It’s not just a hazzard for the blind.
Hi all,
We ordered/reserved a Leaf and then after test driving the Leaf we decided to cancel our reservation.
The car itself drove great, the regen braking seemed to do its job. Dashboard look very nice with all of the info you would possibly want. Great head room front and back, I am 6’1 and had no issues sitting in the back while my wife was driving the vehicle. Acceleration was peppy. The rest of the interior though seemed basic. $35k has an expectation of just a little bit more “niceness” to the interior.
The crux for our decision came down to two things.
- the battery (li-on) and the half life expectancy of the capacity (think laptop). Its not like a brand new battery will give you 200+ miles and then eventually fade to 100, but to start at the 70-100 mile range when new and that in a relative short while your max capacity could be 35-50 miles. Not good. The 8 year 100k mile battery warranty does not cover loss of capacity. When the dealer said that the cost of replacement could be $9k-18k it pretty much sealed the deal.
- Resale value. As this car ages (battery life, technology, no tax credit benefit) how fast will it lose value, normal cars lose 20-40% in their first 2 years.
Maybe a third thought would be maintenance, and Nissan’s mechanics ability to “fix” electronic issues, or have parts available. The answer to these questions were answered in a matter of fact… no problem… Yeah right
I look forward to hear what the others think.
Joe
Has anyone checked out the Volt?
How does it compare to the leaf?
[QUOTE=Allison_Hollander;10788]Has anyone checked out the Volt?
How does it compare to the leaf?[/QUOTE]
The two vehicles are not the same… The leaf is a pure electric car, whereas the volt is a hybrid.
I don’t recall if the volt is a hybrid that is a electric car with gas assist, or like most hybrids, a gas car with battery assist.
Joe
I think it’s a perfect Electric vehicle from the Nissan.
Nissan Leaf is getting huge success in the market as Chevy Volt .Nissan has promoted the 2011 Leaf as “the world’s first affordable, zero-emission car.” That chorus was picked up and the little electric car became a media star. It garnered awards such as the 2011 World Car of the Year and 2011 European Car of the Year. In 2011, it was also the first electric vehicle to be included in Wards’s prestigious Top 10 engine list. Not only did Leaf usher in a new beginning of zero-emissions motoring, it also offered a sensible four-door hatchback body style and a pleasant driving experience. In India Tata is also going to launch electric car which is Tata Manza CS and Tata Pixel.
Now Nissan has announced a new greener, better (obviously), UK-made (surprise!) Nissan LEAF that will be available from spring 2013 in three versions: Visia, Acenta and Tekna.
Improvements actually do cover three of the biggest EV bugbears:
- Driving range: increase from 109 miles (175 km) to 124 miles (200 km) due to a design tweak
- Charging time: halved (!) from 8 to 4 hours, although you will need a 32 amp supply for that (typical domestic socket in UK delivers only 10 amps)
- Performance: new heat pump reducing electrical consumption in cold weather (crucial for us Brits!)
- Lifestyle: increased luggage capacity (charger moved under the bonnet), new Europe re-engineered chassis (better handling)
The three new trims mentioned above are topped up by a new colour palette of seven colours with solid, pearl and metallic finishes:
A) Visia - entry point car, but with 16-inch steel wheels with full covers, black door mirror caps and halogen headlights;
B) Acenta – equivalent of the original LEAF? – also 16-inch alloys, plus additional options like suede fabric seats, body coloured mirror caps and rear privacy glass.
C) Tekna - top of the range with leather seats and 17-inch alloy wheels as standard, plus LED headlights, a new custom Bose sound system and AVM.
No pricing available as yet though.
Hi Karolina
It is interesting to see that Nissan is looking to improve its offering to the electric car market while other automobile companies are seemingly reconsidering their position in the sector. The Nissan Leaf has been one of the biggest successes so far in this latest bout of interest in the electric vehicle market and this looks likely to continue into 2013.
If car manufacturers listened to their customers more, would we see a better uptake of electric vehicles?