TURN OVER A NEW LEAF
New all-electric Nissan Leaf Price: from £21,990 to £27,490
NISSAN’S second generation all-electric five-seater family car is here, with deliveries beginning on February 2.
The zero-emissions hatchback will, Nissan says, travel 50 per cent further, deliver 38 per cent more power, and cost up to £1,500 less than the original.
But does it live up to the high-voltage hype?
GOOD
THIS is the real deal; designed for the real world, less than £30,000, and a smart car that owes much to a new ‘pedal power’ system.
IT LOOKS — and drives — like a proper family car, and is built in Sunderland.
TO EMPHASISE its green credentials, the global launch was at the pioneering Institute of Technology and Renewable Energy ( ITER) on Tenerife in the Canaries, which is 100 per cent green-powered.
IT’S SPRIGHTLY on steep inclines, does a fair lick on motorways, and can accelerate from rest to 62 mph in 7.9 seconds. Top speed is 89 mph.
WHILE the first-generation Leaf, which has sold 300,000 worldwide and 21,000 in Britain since its launch in 2011, appealed to geeks, this one’s more conventional hatchback styling works well.
IT’S NIMBLE in normal drive mode, with instant acceleration that’s as quiet as a Rolls-Royce.
PEDAL Power! A little blue button makes the accelerator pedal double as a brake when you lift your foot, which means your driving is smoother.
EASY-TO-NAVIGATE controls and sat nav on the dashboard, console and 7 in touch screen.
IF YOU hate parking, you’ll love this car. Press the parking button, drive slowly along a row of parked cars, and it’ll reverse itself into a sufficiently large space.
IT DRIVES itself, up to a point. On a motorway, with the ProPilot
BAD
Made in Britain: Ray charges the Nissan Leaf system, you set a speed and a distance to the car in front. It then brakes if you get too close and accelerates when clear. Great in jams. CHARGING the onboard 40kWh lithium-ion batteries at home takes 21 hours. But fit a new 7kW fast homecharging point and that reduces to 7.5 hours. YOU can drive 168 miles on a full charge — 258 miles in the city.
NEVER mind ‘Are we there yet?’. The question is: ‘Will we ever get there?’ Despite improvements there’s no getting around power range-anxiety. If the battery level falls, the car’s regenerative braking system can generate power to recharge on the move and get you there. But it does mean some nervous moments.
THE rather austere all-black interior looks dull and gloomy.
IT’S still eerie to drive off in almost complete silence.
aren’t enough public charging points in the UK yet.