Nissan Leaf
For the most part Nissan has focused it’s efforts on building more fuel efficient cars as opposed to jumping into the hybrid arena.
Instead Nissan has gone the totally electric development route positioning themselves as electric cars being the cars of the future.
The Nissan Leaf is only the first of what the car company claims will be a entire family of electric cars that will quickly follow… but let’s stay with what is for now.
The Nissan Leaf receives power via a 24 kilowatt-hour battery pack. The pack itself is configured to lay flat beneath the floor space in order to maximize interior roominess.
Cruising range, according to Nissan is 100 miles. 100 miles seems to be a magic marketing number for consumers. Keep in mind as any marketing goes, this 100 mile range is more than likely under ideal conditions and a more conservative estimate would be more in the 70 mile neighborhood.
So what about the recharging capabilities of the Nissan Leaf? A big hurdle with totally electric is recharging and more precisely the fear of running out juice somewhere with no charging stations nearby.
Nissan Leaf Dash
Nissan states that the battery will recharge in four hours via a 220 volt line (the kind your dryer runs on). However, if you want to plug the Leaf into a standard 110 volt outlet like you would have in your garage, you should expect twice that long. The Leaf does come with a quick charge capability that allows for an 80% charge up in less than 30 minuets, but at this time, we’re not quite sure what type of power source that would take.
Without splitting too many mathematical hairs here, early quotes from Nissan on the cost to drive the Leaf was about 4 cents per mile. Compare that to the 13 cents per mile cost for a car that gets 30 miles per gallon (based on 15,000 miles per year).
For those horsepower buffs and numbers crunchers amongst us, the Nissan Leaf’s motor will produce 80 kilowatts (107 horsepower) which is roughly the same as the Honda Fit. The motor gives us 207 pounds/feet torque… which isn’t bad considering a 3.5 liter Altima produces 258. Top speed of the Leaf… about 90mph’s.
With electric cars, it’s all about aerodynamics and energy efficiency. So, when it comes to styling, people will probably either love or hate the lines of the Leaf. For the most part… I see Nissan Versa in the lines… but maybe that’s just my eyes.
What about the price point of the Nissan Leaf?
Nissan has quietly inferred that it would be somewhere around the $30,000 or less range.
