Nissan Leaf Electric Car At The 2011 Canberra International Electric Vehicle Festival
Nissan Leaf Electric Car Setting up At 2011 Canberra International Electric Vehicle Festival
Hi,
Nissan displayed their Nissan Leaf at the 2011 Canberra International Electric Vehicle Festival. They only had one car on display and unlike what reportedly happened at the CRC Speedshow in New Zealand earlier this year, at the 2011 Canberra International Electric Vehicle Festival, it was possible to see what was under the hood.
I did not get a chance to see the Nissan Leaf drive around, but I guess it would have been difficult considering there was only one Nissan Leaf on display. Tesla had several Roadsters and Mitsubishi had several i-MiEVs so that allowed them to have 1 on static display and the others giving members of the public rides in their respective vehicles.
What I found interesting was that the gear lever knob inside the Nissan Leaf looked somewhat unique. It looked futuristic.
Nissan Leaf Specifications
Driving
Quoted Top Speed: 140km/h
Quoted Range: Up to 170km
Motor
Nissan Leaf Under Hood - AC Electric Motor is under that silver object
Power: 80KW which is around 107 hp
Torque: Not specified in brochure.
Type: AC Synchronous with regenerative braking
Location: Front
Driving wheels: It appeared to be front wheel drive
Battery
Type: Lithium-ion (Li-ion)
Capacity: 24 kWh
Interior
Seats: 5 people (cloth seats)
Power windows: Yes
My Opinion About the Nissan Leaf
In my opinion, the Nissan Leaf appears to be based on a Nissan Tiida. I don’t have proof if that is the case, but it is a hunch. I believe Nissan under estimated the popularity of its Electric Cars so hopefully, they will bring out more of their Electric Cars in the 2012 Canberra International Electric Vehicle Festival. As I did not see it drive, I can’t comment on driving characteristics, but based on what I saw, it appears to be a great package. If I were Nissan, I would do a market test and release a version of the Nissan Leaf and call it the Nissan Pulsar to leverage on the successful Pulsar badge and see how sales goes. I’m not sure how much it will sell for in Australia and it still has not been released in Australia (at the time of writing). I believe what will hurt the Nissan Leaf the most will be lack of production and lack of product promotion. If I had to choose between a Nissan Leaf and a Chevy Volt (and prices were the same), I would choose the Nissan Leaf because with the Nissan Leaf, I would never have to worry about putting in gasoline, oil changes, oil filter changes, air filter changes, fuel filter changes, spark plug changes, engine vacuum leaks etc etc.
Conclusion
Based on the limited exposure to the Nissan Leaf, I believe the Nissan Leaf is a good Electric Car which would meet the majority of city and suburban dweller’s driving needs. However, with lack of production and the lack of information regarding the benefits of the Nissan Leaf, this car which otherwise seems like a good car may not reach it’s market penetration potential.
