Analog Nissan Leaf EV is anti-tesla
The Tesla Model 3 and Y dominate the electric vehicle market. They are the standard by which all other EVS are judged. But as numerous Hertz customers have communicated to me, not everyone is comfortable in a Tesla. If you haven’t been in a Tesla before, the experience can be bewildering.
Where’s the instrument screen? How do I operate the mirrors? Why doesn’t it have any knobs?
Some folks just want a normal car. For them, there is the electric Nissan Leaf.
Leaf hit the U.S. market long before the Model 3/Y in 2011 and — rather than tear up the blueprints and re-invent the automobile as Tesla did — Nissan’s intent was to create a good ol’ Nissan with an electric motor where the engine usually is found.
Getting acclimated to a Leaf is as easy as learning your way around a Nissan Sentra or Toyota Corolla or any of your typical gas-powered cars. I have a Tesla Model 3 and Subaru Impreza in my garage, and the Leaf has a lot more in common with the ’Ru.
Hatchback. Similar interior space. Simple digital instrument and dashboard displays. Console choked with more buttons than an airline cockpit. I selected Drive from the consolemounted shifter (won’t find that on a Tesla) and I was off.
I adjusted my seat heater with a dash button. My mirrors with a door button. My temperature with a dash button. My AM radio station and favorite Sirius XM stations with a button. Heck, Tesla doesn’t even offer AM or Sirius XM stations.
Through the twisties of Oakland County back roads, my front-wheeldrive, top-trim SV Plus
Leaf was as playful as our family FWD Impreza. With its short wheelbase and rigid chassis, the Nissan is eager to be thrown around, and I toggled e-pedal for single-pedal driving using motor regen as a brake. Stomp on the gas pedal and you’re reminded this is an EV — instant, silent electric torque at the ready.
Credit a 60 kwh battery in the SV Plus, which nearly triples in size over the OG 2011 model and its 24 kwh lithium-ion pack. It’s also a step up from the 40 kwh standard battery.
“Range aside, the Leaf seems like a normal car,” our friends over at Car and Driver magazine wrote back in 2010.
Oh, yes. Range.
The Leaf has certainly improved over the years from the OG’S 100-mile range when it debuted in 2010. With its bigger battery, the second-gen Leaf has not only gained better acceleration but better range as well. The $29K base S boasts 149 miles of range, and my range-topping SV Plus says it can go 212 miles in Normal mode.
More problematic: EV range doesn’t hold up in Michigan’s cold winter climates. Chart a course up north and you need to be cognizant that some fast chargers are 120 miles apart, which can get tricky for low-range 212-mile models like Leaf.
It’s typical for my Tesla Model 3 (and other EVS) to get just 60% of range traveling at 75 mph in 30-degree weather. That means 127 miles of range in a fully charged Leaf, so you might want to back off the accelerator pedal to 65 or 70, which ain’t always easy. Expect to sit at the chargers for a while, too. The Leaf can only charge up to 50 kw compared to 150 kw for the Chevy Bolt and 250 kw for Teslas.
The mantle of Top EV has been handed off to the Ariya SUV and its fashionable interior. Ariya gets the latest self-driving software, fancy bronze paint options and better 130 kwh charging.
But Ariya also gets fancy haptic touch controls with no knobs.
Oh. No knobs?
Check out the good ol’ analog Leaf across the showroom.