Nissan turns over new Leaf
Forget blatantly weird looks, the latest version of Nissan’s Leaf goes mainstream, writes Damien O’carroll.
Have you always wanted to buy a Nissan Leaf but didn’t want a used import? Or maybe you were afraid of being thought a dull, droning know-it-all who constantly hangs around free charging stations?
Well, worry no more, because Nissan has now launched the new-generation Leaf in New Zealand (and Australia) with a shiny new car warranty.
But you are probably still best to charge it at home if you want to truly avoid the latter issue.
Make me an instant expert: what do I need to know?
As well as being the first global mainstream all-electric car to hit the market from a major manufacturer (OK, the Tesla Roadster was earlier, but while it was very cool, it was hardly mainstream and Tesla was hardly a major manufacturer at the time), the Nissan Leaf has also set the bar for EVS in New Zealand.
Unfortunately, because most of them in New Zealand are imported used ones, that bar is rather low, making the Leaf the poster child hero and the biggest obstacle to mainstream EV adoption in this country.
Why? Well, while Tesla has been adopted by the wealthy Evangelists, the used import Leaf has been embraced wholesale by the lowerbudget version of that most selfrighteous and annoying type of EV owner.
That is not to say that all Leaf (and Tesla) owners are like that, far from it, but there is a vocal minority taking it all too far and giving everyone a bad name.
Most Leaf owners love them simply because they are actually rather good cars.
The first-gen car was – looks aside – a satisfying thing to drive, with a decent-enough range (for the time) and, as it was most people’s first experience with an EV, fantastic shock value when you nailed the throttle for the first time and experienced that instant EV urge.
Sure, it wasn’t pretty. But you could easily make the argument that Nissan nailed the look perfectly – much like people who bought the first Toyota Prius hybrid, people who bought the first Leaf wanted something that looked different from a mainstream hatch; they wanted people to know they had an EV.
Now Nissan has equally arguably nailed the look of the more conventional second-gen Leaf – more people who are keen on buying electric now question why all EVS have to look weird, holding up the first-gen car as a prime example.
The handsome and almost conventional second-gen car is the perfect answer to that question – they don’t have to.
Nor do they necessarily have to accept an interior that doesn’t feel like it belongs in a $60K car.
The Leaf does have some hard plastics present in the cabin (and the design is very conservative), but the amount of high-quality soft touch material far outweighs this, and it boasts excellent build quality, a high level of clever tech and, of course, driver assists.
While not quite the full Nissan Propilot semi-autonomous system that some overseas markets get, the Leaf comes with all the expected assists and aides, including adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert and autonomous emergency braking.
An 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system includes Apple Carplay and Android Auto, and the
leather accented seats are heated front and rear, as is the steering wheel.
But one of the Leaf’s most interesting selling points is the fact it is one of the only EVS in New Zealand to offer bi-directional charging – you have the ability to put electricity back into the grid or, more specifically, your home.
Nissan is playing up the biggest plus of this – the ability to charge your Leaf at night using cheaper electricity, then power your house during the day. Or, you know, drive your car. That’s not even touching on the remarkable smugness of having a fully-powered house during a power cut...
A different type of home charger is required for bi-directional charging, and the hardware is currently going through the required local testing and certifying, but it shouldn’t be long before it is available.
Where did you drive it?
A burst through the suburbs and around the outskirts of Melbourne was a fittingly appropriate way to experience the Leaf. And managing to get lost and spend even more time in the leafy suburban nightmare was probably remarkably close to your average Leaf’s natural habitat.
In terms of actual driving, the Leaf is very much a conventional EV – while there is brisk acceleration, there is no Tesla-style Ludicrous mode acceleration – and one-pedal driving is available via the ‘‘e-pedal’’ switch that ups the regenerative braking and really completes the EV driving experience.
Excellent ride quality, an impressive amount of rear leg room and boot space also help make the Leaf a thoroughly practical and usable urban runabout.
What’s the pick of the range?
Nissan is keeping things simple with the Leaf, only bringing in a single high-spec model at $59,990.
With a far higher quality interior and superior ride comfort to the likes of the Hyundai Kona or Ioniq, the Leaf represents the best value for money we have seen in a mainstream EV in this country to date. Sure, at $60K it isn’t ‘‘cheap’’, but the premium you are paying over something equivalent with a combustion engine is far smaller than it has ever been before.
Put it this way, something with the same interior quality and
equipment levels in the Ice-powered small hatch segment would set you back around the $50K mark (think the $49k Mazda3 Limited or $51k Lexus CT200H), so the EV premium is around $9 to $10K, depending on what you compare it to.
Why would I buy it?
You’ve been holding out for a New Zealand-new Leaf or you just want a comfortable urban commuter electric car that is highly equipped, looks good and comes with an excellent warranty (the Leaf gets five years on the car and eight years for the battery).
Plus, you see potential for that whole bi-directional charging thing to save you some coin on your home electricity costs.
Why wouldn’t I buy it?
You can’t get past that whole usedimport stigma the Leaf still has clinging to it.
Or an EV doesn’t suit your needs – it’s true, they don’t suit everyone (weird, huh? I mean, every other type of car suits literally everybody’s needs, right?) and the Leaf doesn’t have the mega-range capabilities of the likes of a Tesla, but Nissan has never pushed it as anything more than an urban commuter anyway. And at that, it excels.