Just hours ago Nissan revealed to the Australian media, their take on a proper electric vehicle (EV) the Nissan LEAF.
Nissan Australia CEO Dan Thompson said that “The future is all about electric cars” and that the LEAF is the first mass produced and affordable EV in the world.
Electric Vehicles are not new to Nissan; they built their first EV, called the Tama in 1947 and then followed with the Prairie Joy in 1996 and the Altra in 1998.
Nissan’s last effort was in 1999 with a fleet of Hyper minis, which were in service across several Japanese cities from 2001.
Nissan’s idea of affordable means that the LEAF will cost no more than an equivalent size car, which is powered by an internal combustion engine.
With 80 Kilowatts of power and a not too shabby 280 Newton-metres of torque, the LEAF will be able to manage a top speed of 140km/h.
Electric Vehicles have almost always been hamstrung by their real world range but the LEAF isn’t so bad with full charge cruising range of over 160 kilometres, which is more than enough for most daily driving commitments.
The great news for drivers of the LEAF is that you may never need to visit a petrol station again. Just plug your car into a domestic 220~240V system and by morning your vehicle will be fully charged at a fraction of the cost of a petrol-powered car.
Of course the benefits to the environment are far greater than the saving in your wallet.
No tailpipe, means zero emissions, and zero emissions means a cleaner world, especially if the LEAF is mass-produced on a global scale as Nissan expects it will be.
Naturally, there are some emissions if the car is charged via electricity from coal fired sources, but if that charge is from Solar power cells mounted on your own roof, then you will have a 100 percent zero emissions car in your garage.
Even better, is the potential to plug in at night and supply any excess power back to the electricity grid, as is possible now with your own solar power.
And don’t think for one minute that you will be compromised in any way with your purchase of Nissan’s EV.
The LEAF will easily accommodate five adults in relative comfort and that includes sufficient leg and headroom for all passengers.
That’s because of some very clever design features, which include positioning the 48 laminated lithium ion battery modules (192 cells) under the floor of the vehicle.
The LEAF also uses regenerative braking which means energy under braking is sent directly to the battery, which tops up the charge.
But Nissan wants fast charging stations all over Sydney, where you’ll be able to get a complete charge in around 30 minutes or less. And that’s something that John Robertson (NSW Minister for Energy) and Lord Mayer of Sydney, Clover Moore dearly want to facilitate.
In fact, its not just Sydney that Nissan is working with, there are 13 other major cities that have signed up for the C40 Electric Vehicle Network.
The United States is leading the charge (pardon the pun) with around 5000 LEAF cars to go on trial across five states later this year.
There are plenty of very cool features on board too. You will be able to check the battery power level from your mobile phone as well as turn on the air conditioning or heating before you enter the car.
In fact, before I got into the LEAF today, I switched on the ignition via a TV-like remote control unit, which is incredibly convenient and simple.
The instrument panel and entertainment system are entirely digital with touch screens, which are very easy to read and to navigate through.
General sales of the LEAF will commence in the US this year and Nissan dealers in Australia will have cars on the showroom floor in 2012.
0 direct emissions anyway. But, that said, a coal fired power station is more efficient than an internal combustion engine.
We need to get off Coal regardless of what we drive.
The white interior looks pretty slick, but I can’t help thinking. How will that age. Overall this looks like a better package than the Mitsu.
I wonder if this is the next generation Pulsar we’re looking at? Its about the right size. The Tiida just had a mild update, so 2012 seems about the time for a new replacement.
And definitely looks better than the Tiida. Although unless it came with a petrol engine, it couldn’t really compete on price with the Corolla, Lancer, etc. I really like the way it looks though.
Looks better than the mitsubishi.
lets see if they can really make it the same price as a normal car of this size.
Any idea on expected cost in Australia, weren’t they going to lease the battery packs? Fast charging stations at shopping centres, McDonald’s etc, hopefully we will be able to reduce our reliance on the black stuff, if fed or state govt had any brains they would be offering subsidies or tax breaks or heavily reduced registration or free parking etc. Wonder what insurance we be like.
Our state gov has been enchanted by this illy hybrid craze. its funny because they dont class EV’s ala LEAF and Volt as hybrids. They offer special parking for hybrids in some spots, but not for EV’s, and more efficient vehicles. My mates Econetic Fiesta drinks less than a Prius but he cant park in one of these spots because a million celebrities dont own his car.
Well I thinking to park my dual fuel FG ute in the hybrid spots, after all technically, and according to the Macquarie definition of ‘Hybrid’ my car fits the bill!
I thought we were getting the Renault Fluence ZE, but then again renault takes its time…
At least this nissan looks good!
P.S. is it me or does it look like they placed the car in someones living room!
can they move the socket to another place? it just looks ugly
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Yeah, I guess plugging the car in when you park it at home, is just too hard for some.
I guess not spending my entire life driving 30km trips is to much to understand for some, most of my daily trips are 300+ km’s. So its not about just being able to recharge at home. And if you can wait 30 minutes to fill up at a recharging station then your a very patient man.
Why 30km trips? the car has a range of 160km. 75k Per year is very high and i pitty anyone who has to do this kind of driving. You would be best suited to a series hybrid (PHEV).
But even with 300km+ per day, why would you need 500Km range AND 5 minutes charging??
Remember the idea is there will be charge points everywhere, major carparks, shopping centres, places of work. Surely there are points in the day where you stop for at least an hour in a carpark. Even with your schedule.
I do a lot of driving what can I do it adds up really quickly lots of after work commitments. The problem is the initial range, I like to go places, especially on longer trips on the weekends, and this car would be such a burden on me. I’m not saying the car is a bad idea, or that it wont work, I’m just saying for me specifically, I wont be interested in electric cars until they have a similar range to petrol cars. That’s all.
You wouldnt want to have a head on accident in that car… you will bugger the charging socket…
Seems very odd by Nissan would place the charging socket there. Most accidents on our roads are from being being hit up the rear… if you are in a LEAF, and you hit someone else up the back… you are going to stuff up, not only the bumper, but the charging ability of the car too!
I would hate to think what a replacement charging socket will cost…
Just visit an electrician and get him to move the socket. A 3 phase socket and a normal 240 volt socket plus a couple of extention leads should do the job, maybe even a 240 volt outlet so plug in appliances or power tools and use the car as a mobile battery pack?
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That would depend on how much power your sterio draws. If you are one of these people who enjoy sharing your music with everyone with in a 500 meter radius, yes your range will be reduced significantly. But for most people like you or I the draw will be minimal, and while sitting motionless in a traffic jam the car will be using no power on the drive train. This is an EV strong point over ICE where the engine is running at all times.
Air con could be another thing however.
yeah Betty its impressive but yes its a car made by Nissan not Aliens. Therefore it will not solve world hunger, traffic jams or increase the size my manhood. But then again Nissan never said it would!
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Think of it this way:
How many tons of oil is been burnt every minute duing peak hour by ICE cars sitting idle at traffic lights or stuck in jams? How many of those cars do no more than 100km driving in a day (it might even be going to and from the nearest train station)? Who gets to breath in all that lovely exhaust?
EV’s are niether the solution to traffic conjestion or burning of fossil fuels (coal), but they can help less CO2 being released as the energy produced in a powerstaion is far more efficiant than a cars motor, and they only use energy when actually moving. Added bonuses are the quieter running noise (less noise pollution) and the lack of emissions produced by the cars themselves.
EV’s are not going to suit everyone, but they will certainly have thier place, especially in 2 car city or town households.
I appreciate your feeling on public transport, but these are not values genuinly shared by any Australian government (in real, not spoken terms). Public transport for most people is the slowest way to get from A to B, unreliable and inconveniant. Why do you think it is so rare for bus and train timetables to work together, and new rail networks are talked about only. Through their actions, not words is how you see the true nature of any person or organisation.
This is a car website. It is about cars.
Not a single car reviewed on this site will do a thing about congestion. We are aware of this.
The public transport review site, where you can tell everyone how much the trains would relieve congestion if only they came on time and didn’t overshoot the platform by 500m, is somewhere else.
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“Lazy bones: Your reply is an absolute load of drivel.”
CORRECT!
Betty, it was a joke! No car is going to solve traffic jams. (Maybe the Tango EV might, but that is a big big if!) This is car advice not the town planning office. Go to ebay and start bidding on a sense of humour.
Who cares about the cost of the socket? Isn’t it more important that you live????
I guess the design has a lot to do with co efficient drag more than good looks. Some boffens are no doubt going to run the risk and drive a big distance on a low charge. The RACQ are going to have to invest in generators.
I hope Windows come up with a LEAF upgrade. I want to be able to turn the dial up to MAX POWER for break neck acceleration.
What if you can only park on the street?… how will you charge it?
Ummmmmm. Extention cord?
And what if someone trips over your extension cord, how much does that cost in court???
OH&S will nail you in the work place for willy nilly power cords let alone in the public space
You cant sue someone for a cord on the nature strip as that is classed as council property, and if they trip on you property, then they were trespassing.
It’s a stupid answer for a stupid question. Of course electric cars wont immediately meet every consumers needs. You will have to be able to tick several boxes before you invest on one. 1. Will it have enough traveling distance for the driving i do? 2. Can i accommodate (safely) the cars electricity needs?
I think you will find, that if someone injured themselves by tripping on your cord attached to your car, you could very well be sued
I have to say, depending on the price and real world range, this could be the perfect city car for the guy who owns a sports car for weekends, or for the family which also has a big car or SUV for highways and carrying half the kid’s sports team. My commute to work is about a 20km round trip, even if something prevents me recharging for a day or two I’m not going to be in trouble if I have to dash straight to a hospital or out to the Dandenongs after I get home or something. But I would probably still feel a bit iffy about having one as my only car (although that’s partly also because that would give me nothing to drive hard around a bendy road).
If Nissan can deliver on all the promises made on the concept cars, i will put down my deposit right now. This is definetly the future. Electric is a new method of propulsion that is slowly being refined and adopted by all manufacturer’s. 160km and that interior is very good. Just maybe tone down the rear and their all set.
Its a pity they are no cheaper to fuel than an equivalent small diesel powered car…..
How so? I wold think electricity is much cheaper than both diesel and petrol, isnt it?
Do the sums,
I tried to post something longer, but it kept getting moderated so I gave up
Quote “In fact, before I got into the LEAF today, I switched on the ignition via a TV-like remote control unit”
Ignition? I think that only applies to internal combustion engines!
We’ll now have to say “I activated the circuits” or something similar.
it cannot possibly be zero emissions, lets consider the mining, production and shipping, and the power used to charge the thing.
Electricity don’t grow on trees
Look we have to start somewhere. Keep in mind, while there might be emissions for the shipping and creation of the car. The same emissions are done for petrol cars too.
The advantage here is that the LEAF has the ability to stop creating emissions once you own it. A Petrol car cannot do this.
I do agree with the poster above. 30 – 70K on Electric cars with very limited range, in a country like Australia, which has vast distances between places, is just stupid.
In Japan, Europe and America where things are alot closer, sure. But not here.
You are MUCH MUCH better off saving the cash until Electric Cars improve their range (and they will!) and getting yourself a diesel car in the mean time. Modern Diesels are very good.
The fact is the auto industry cant force you or the oil and electricity companies to change their energy sources. They have done their part and brought ZERO emission’s vehicles to the market. They cant force the energy companies to become more efficient. Thats up to our slow moving State governments who still believe speed camera’s save lives, and all women are housewives. When companies like better place start installing EV charging stations, the governments will be put in the spotlight and will have to act.
ohreally…..
Until someone invents a car that can run on happy thoughts alone we are stuck with using some kind of energy. ANY energy produced emits some level of waste…really
it ALL comes back down to price… make it cheap enough and people will buy it, price it too high over a petrol car and people wont! very simple
This, gentlemen, is the future. And it is closer than you think. Go and Google Tesla Model S and try to say I don’t want one. Show me the money, guess who is buying into battery technology?. Have a look at your mobile phone, then think back 1 year, 5 years and 10 years. This afternoon, go and look at your car, then think ahead 1 year, 5 years and 10 years.
ALthough the GM Volt DOes not have the same charge only range as the LEAF, I think it will be more practical as it can charge on the run using an ICE.
Both cars are beauts though.
Buy a Hybrid, you can run it on electricity for your short work commute and run it on petrol for normal driving. What is the cost difference between a hybrid and this? Probably not much, so why pay som uch money for a car that is so limited in its capabilities, when a hybrid gives you the best of both worlds for the same price.
WOw it`s awesome finally we are getting toward a better future