Join 2010

Nissan Leaf

We received an invitation to attend the presentation of the Nissan Leaf at the Museum of Science in Boston and decided to take a look. I wasn’t too excited for an all electric car, but after seeing how far electrics have come, and being car fans, we had to check it out.

The Leaf is a C class front wheel drive commuter scooter, comparative in size to a Mazda3 5-door, and seats up to 5. Speaking of looking like a Mazda3, the Leaf doesn’t have the look of a green car like we’re used to from the likes of Honda and Toyota. I would have thought this was a new gas model if it wasn’t called out as an electric. The Leaf is rated at a 100 mile driving range as Nissan designed this car to target those of us that have a commute under 80 miles a day. This is not a performance or touring machine like the Tesla electric car…..but could we see an electric GTR? I know, heresy. It will get a threesome and their clubs to the golf course with the 40 of the 40/60 opened up.

Let’s take a look at day to day use. The car charges to full on 110v in 16 hours, on 220v in 8 hours, and Nissan is working to standardize a port that will charge to 80% (80 miles) in 30 minutes. Nissan will offer a charging port that can be installed at your home, or you can use an existing 110 or 220 outlet.

The design of the car is very interesting. It uses flat batteries which are situated around the undercarriage to even out weight distribution. The exterior was designed to reduce the sounds of road noise. Headlights stand out to force air down the sides of the car, away from the windshield and roof. Spoilers appear at the front of the windshield as well as on the front and rear bumpers and the rear of the roof. All this to reduce road noise as the car itself is so quiet.

So 100 mile driving range, add in passengers, heat (no engine so a heater is powered by the batteries) or ac and you start to wonder what the impact is to that range. The Leaf’s braking system is regenerative to assist you in your travels and the system also recharges while coasting. City driving will result in higher mileage and if you running low, just find a steep hill to brake down or a few extra miles. All the lights (all LED by the way on the vehicle we saw), power windows, power door locks and other accessories are powered by a 12v accessory battery which is recharged by a solar panel nicely nestled in the space between the roof and the rear spoiler.

Now to the tech stuff, my favorite part. The Leaf has an IT panel in the dash which controls Nav, backup camera, and contains a nice infocenter. Nissan has an opportunity here as the Leaf will be connected to a wireless network. The flexibility of this infocenter could be very impressive. With the IT panel you could set a schedule for the car to start working towards a set temperature (via heat or cooling) before you leave for work, no walk out to the car, or remote start needed, and it runs off the plug power rather than the battery while plugged in. Back to the wireless network. We were pitched that you’ll be able to manage the car from your phone. Remote temperature, radio, window controls, from wherever you are….assuming both you and your car are in coverage of course.

The Nissan Leaf was all in all an exciting endeavor. I can’t wait to see these technologies come to market

Check out the pictures

New England International Auto Show

We took a day to check out the cars on display at the Boston Convention center.  Great stuff from the dealers and some incredible custom work on display.  We had an opportunity to meet a few great custom artists including Breaklites and AfterFX Check out our pictures from the event