Hatchback buyers in Australian cities have an electric future with Nissan set to launch its LEAF electric car. A full-size, five-seat hatchback, the Nissan LEAF – the reigning European Car Of The Year – will soon commence trials in Victoria ahead of local sales within 12 months.
With a range between re-charges of 170kms, the zero-emission Nissan LEAF is admirably suited to daily use by the majority of Australians. Even from far-flung suburbs like say Cronulla or Palm Beach in Sydney, Werribee or Ferntree Gully in Melbourne, commuters to the city could go two or three days between re-charges, which can be done overnight at home.
The Nissan LEAF succeeds because it combines electric motoring with full-size hatchback practicality.
Nissan LEAF Overview
Car Showroom was afforded a brief test drive of one of two British specification Nissan LEAF vehicles brought ‘Downunder’ by Nissan Australia for local development.
Currently Nissan manufactures the LEAF only in Japan, but within two years its plants in Sunderland (England) and Smyrna (North America) will also start production. The Nissan LEAF is already sold in Japan and North America.
Nissan LEAF is a conventionally-sized five-door, five-seat hatchback. It looks good with nice, modern exterior and interior styling – in fact, in the metal it actually looks better than Nissan’s current Tiida hatchback!
Safety abounds with six airbags, traction and stability control all standard.
Nissan LEAF Engine
Nissan LEAF is powered by an 80kW AC synchronous electric motor which drives the front wheels via a single-speed reduction gear.
With 280Nm on tap instantly (a trait of electric cars), the Nissan LEAF actually has more torque than Nissan’s 2.5-litre V6 petrol Maxima sedan. Nissan says the LEAF has a top speed of 140km/h.
Batteries are lithium-ion 24kWh, manufactured in a joint venture between Nissan and NEC. The battery pack is mounted low, under the rear seat for optimal ride/handling balance.
Nissan LEAF The Interior
With its abundant space – bigger than Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla – and boasting a thoroughly modern, stylish and high quality look/feel, the interior is a standout feature of the Nissan LEAF.
All tactile surfaces are soft and nicely trimmed and the colour palette of the Nissan LEAF we drove was tasteful and bright. The seats are trimmed in recycled materials but they look and feel top-notch.
The dashboard had nice graphics and contained main readouts for speed, battery charge and battery temperature as well as various displays advising power consumption or charge (on deceleration) and a ‘tree’ which grew if you drove carefully (like Toyota’s Prius it became an objective to optimize your driving style for maximum efficiency).
Centre console was the British-specification audio and satellite navigation system (Nissan is still fine-tuning the final local specifications for that one) and in place of a conventional gear lever was computer mouse-style toggle which you click to select gears.
Rear seating was slightly raised (‘theatre-style’) to accommodate the under-floor storage of batteries but this provided good visibility for passengers and the legroom was substantial for a small hatchback.
The rear seats fold and the Nissan LEAF will accommodate long, skinny items like snow skis, but the luggage area is not completely flat because of the batteries. Also stored in the luggage compartment, in its own bag, is the lead used to plug-in for re-charging.
Nissan LEAF Exterior & Styling
There are compact electric cars and now there is the Nissan LEAF – a full-size, five-seat hatchback.
With an overall length of 4,455mm and a long 2,700mm wheelbase, the Nissan LEAF is actually larger than the Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla. Measuring 1,770mm in width and standing 1,550mm high, the Nissan LEAF delivers space on the inside which is sure to be appreciated by both family and fleet buyers.
With no need for extensive air intakes, this Nissan LEAF is very aerodynamic at the front with a pronounced curve and curiously shaped LED headlights which actually duct airflow around the exterior mirrors to minimize wind noise. A large panel with the Nissan badge on the front folds-out to reveal the plug-in point for battery re-charging.
There’s also pronounced curves around the wheel arches and rear three-quarter panels – again to smooth-out airflow.
Nissan LEAF On The Road
As there are only two, British-specification Nissan LEAF vehicles in Australia, earmarked for developmental work, it was very kind of Nissan to allow Car Showroom a brief test drive on various roads around Melbourne’s Sout-East suburbs. In that context, we can easily overlook the satellite navigation system which was trying to navigate us around central London (it still identified and warned about speed cameras!).
Like all electric cars, the overriding impression behind the wheel of the Nissan LEAF is quietness. With no engine noise, electric cars exaggerate other sounds and Nissan has worked hard to minimize wind noise and tyre roar in the LEAF.
Acceleration is spritely and we comfortably maintained pace with other road-users. Even selecting the energy-saving ‘Eco’ mode – which reduces output – did not detract from our pace in the suburban traffic.
While we did not have the chance to tackle our high-speed mountain roads test loop, the Nissan LEAF displayed good balance, precise turn-in and was nicely refined over mid-corner bumps. In fact, perhaps because it was British-specification car, the LEAF we drove was quite taut in its spring/damper rates for a sporty dynamic.
But the important consideration is: we maneuvered around Melbourne’s industrial South-east suburbs as fast as the traffic around us, but created no emissions.
Nissan LEAF Challenges
From a product perspective the only minor glitch for the Nissan LEAF is the restricted folding of the rear seat backs which doesn’t quite provide the load-carrying versatility of conventional hatchbacks.
The bigger issues are pricing and public re-charging points – both remain the great unknowns so far from launch.
In North America, the Nissan LEAF is stickered at $31,000 and the entire 2011 production run was sold-out before the first vehicles were shipped from Japan.
Locally, early-adopters and environmentally-conscious urban dwellers should expect to pay a slight premium over conventional internal combustion engined hatchbacks.
Companies like BetterPlace and ChargePoint are developing recharging stations for electric cars, but clearly it will take time to develop a network.
Nissan LEAF Verdict
Even before this first, brief drive it was clear the Nissan LEAF will advance the argument for electric cars because it delivers the size and everyday practicality hatchback buyers require. Combine that convenience with zero emissions and modern good looks and you must conclude the Nissan LEAF is the best mainstream electric car so far.
Nissan LEAF The Competition
At this point in time, the Nissan LEAF has just one rival – the smaller Mitsubishi i-MIEV. While the LEAF measures-up as a small car, the i-MIEV is a compact - but both are commendably slick in their electronic drivetrains.
