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This is the Nissan Leaf - a new, purely electric hatchback to fill the gap in the electro market between the G-Wiz and Tesla.
And that's a big gap. Nissan reckons this is the world's most affordable, real-world electric car - expect it to cost around £20,000 when it goes on sale in 2012 - and the Japanese firm could be on to something.
First, it looks like a normal car rather than an embarrassing bubble mobile. The Leaf's batteries are layered like Lasagne tiers, making them easier to cool than traditional cylindrical cells. That means it's easier to package, hence the Leaf adopts a more regular car-like shape.
The styling is also purposeful - those headlights are designed to pierce the air and direct it precisely and efficiently around the car. They use LED bulbs too, which use just 10 per cent of the power of a regular headlight.
And the Leaf has a decent wedge performance. Not quite as much as a Tesla, of course, but 80Kw (that's 113bhp in old money) and 280Nm (206lb ft) will see it to 60mph in around 11 seconds. Enough, in other words, to make it feel punchy and useable in most real-world scenarios.
There is one flaw in the plan: the range. Unless you want to tow a lorry's worth of spare batteries, you'll be stopping every 100 miles or so to charge up. Nissan is working with local authorities around the UK to get charge points installed in service stations and other useful places. The North East is the first area to sign up, which is handy because that's where some of the world's Leaf's will be built, in the company's Sunderland plant.
If it catches on, Nissan reckons 10 per cent of its cars will be all-electric by 2020, at which point the G-Wiz will be a distant, nasty memory.
Now watch Jeremy test the electric Tesla:
Open Car Bar
What do you think?
Want to comment on this?
twojags commented on this article
at 01:08 pm on 03 August 2009
why would you call a car leaf i bet it will be sh**
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nogginthenog commented on this article
at 01:16 pm on 03 August 2009
Surely the 'electric charge points' do not solve the issue. Charging batteries isnt a 2 minute job like filling a petrol tank, unless I've missed something here. Having charge points at the journeys start and end would work, assuming you stay at either end long enough to recharge, but a journey over 100 miles would be impossible even with charging points, unless you count a three to seven hour wait for the batteries to charge every 100 miles practical. This is why James was correct, the future is hydrogen fuel cells, electric is useful for short journeys , there is no doubt, but its not practical for anything else.
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Afaque commented on this article
at 02:17 pm on 03 August 2009
Why do all these electro cars look horribly weird?! Aerodynamics doesn't seem look very pretty... I guess 100 miles is reasonable milage for the everyday commuter. But this isn't a car you can't take out for a drive. One thing i don't like about electric cars and one thing that i feel is the biggest flaw with electric cars.
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pinkshinyalan commented on this article
at 02:37 pm on 03 August 2009
It would make sense for someone working for an eco-conscious company. Salespeople, certain executives. Humbler than the Tesla, more green-cred than a Prius. And sure, charging time at those charging stations would take longer than a 2-minute fill-up, but if you're driving into the business district for a meeting, you can leave the car at the charging station for an hour and get enough go-go-juice for the rest of your day -- or to run errands and go home. You can charge up during your lunch hour, too. For the right kind of person, a 100-mile range just works.
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Mikeado commented on this article
at 05:24 pm on 03 August 2009
For a Leaf that looks really rather fishy and wavey. Actually, whilst I'm very tolerant and appreciative of Japanese design, I think this car is a bit ugly. Still, it's a daily commuter that behaves as a normal car. For 100 miles. Then it drinks electricity from power stations. It's not exactly the swap-flat-ones-for-full-ones battery scheme they were planning, is it? Although I suppose that system will take quite a while to fully implement.
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