$5,000 rebate revs up appeal

The last-generation car’s soft feel has disappeared. It now feels much more confident in corners, with little body roll evident.

One could argue the compact dimensions didn’t need much changing, as it still offers more passenger room than the Bolt. In the Bolt’s defence, it does offer greater cargo-carrying capacity with its back seats folded.

Nissan has had seven years to refine the Leaf — and it shows as soon as you get behind the steering wheel.

If you want to eke out the last bit of efficiency out of every kilowatt of electricity, the Leaf is your ride. Here is a rundown of the various tools at your disposal: • E-Pedal: With this engaged, a driver can come close to one-pedal driving. Simply put, resistance from the electric motor and friction brakes can slow the car to a stop after you take your foot off the accelerator. You never have to use the brake, except in an emergency. • Eco mode: A common program in most vehicles these days, but it can still contribute up to eight per cent more efficiency compared with driving in Normal mode. • B (for Brake) function on the gear shift: This augments regeneration of the battery and reduces brake use when decelerating.

Our car was brimming with technology, including ProPilot Assist, a radarbased system that self-steers to keep the car in its lane (this is in addition to a lane-departure warning system). It can bring the car to a complete stop, if necessary.

Nissan goes to great lengths to stress that this is merely a driver’s aid, not a self-driving system. When engaged, the car will insist that the driver touch the steering wheel.

If it does not sense a hand, it will, after repeated warnings, eventually stop the vehicle and activate the emergency lights automatically.

As with most cars these days, the Leaf has an infotainment screen. One of the screens gives you the energy usage in kWh, an improvement over the usual EV guess-meter (the car guesses the distance you have left on the battery based on your driving).

In a nod to our harsher climate, all Canadian-bound Leafs (they are built in a plant in Tennessee) come with heated seats (front and back), a heated steering wheel and battery heater.

You can charge a car with either a 120V household plug, a dedicated Level II 240V charger or a 480V Level III highspeed charger.

Because of the larger battery capacity, charging it with a household plug can take up to 35 hours.

Using a Level II charger brings the charging time from empty down to seven hours.

If you are on the road, you can calculate that you will get 35.8 kilometres of range for every hour you spend hooked up to a public charger.

But if you can find a high-speed charging station on the road, you can receive almost 142 kilometres of driving after only 30 minutes. Be careful, as experts warn that batteries wear down quicker from a steady diet of high-speed power.

Zero emissions for the planet and inexpensive electric power available — from about eight cents per kilowatt hour in British Columbia — are incentives enough to buy.

Throw in another $5,000 in provincial rebates on your purchase price, and you can understand why you see so many of them on streets these days.

THE SPEC SHEET

Type: Compact five-door hatchback, front engine, front-wheel drive Engine: Electric motor, 147 hp, 236 lb.-ft. of torque Transmission: One speed Battery: 40 kWh lithium-ion On-board charger: 6.6 kWh Range: 242 km Recharge time (Level II): 7 hours Dimensions (mm): Length, 4,480; width, 1,790; height, 1,565; wheelbase, 2,700 Curb weight (kg): 1,592 Price (base/as tested) SL model: $41,998/ $38,998 (includes $1,990 freight and PDI and $100 AC tax, less $5,000 provincial EV incentive) Options: Nil Tires: 215/50 R 17 on alloy wheels Fuel type: Electricity Fuel economy: (as expressed in litres equivalency) Le/100km: 1.9 city/ 2.4 highway Warranty: Three years/60,000 km new car and roadside assistance, five years/100,000 km powertrain, eight years/160,000 advanced battery capacity loss