The October-issue road test of South Africa’s first commercially available full-electric passenger vehicle was a milestone for CAR and the ensuing long-term test of the Nissan Leaf (for six months) represents a novel addition to the magazine’s fleet.
Whereas the sight of a compact hatchback parked in the centre of our garage with an electric cable leading from a socket in its nose seemed odd at first, the team has swiftly become accustomed to the Leaf and the test unit has settled into the daily commuter-role with ease.
Smartphone users religiously charge their phones from their laptops, in-car 12 V sockets or two-pronged chargers as soon as they arrive at the workplace, commence road journeys or return home for the day. Life with the Leaf is no different (unless its driver has regular access to a quick-charge station with three-phase electricity supply).
Charging the Leaf fully from discharged at a 230 V domestic electricity socket takes about eight hours, so the first habit the custodian of a Leaf must learn is to plug in the vehicle whenever it is not in use; otherwise trips need to be carefully considered given the remaining range displayed on the vehicle’s instrument cluster. It’s advisable to calculate the distance (including the return) before commencing a journey with the Leaf, but remember that the range (as is the case with fuelled vehicles) depends greatly on your driving style. Therefore, the longer the proposed trips are, the greater the need to adhere strictly to route itineraries.
Once you’re accustomed to moving the circular gear selector to the right and forward to select reverse, or right and down to engage D (drive) or B (which provides maximum brake generation, allowing drivers to more or less control the Leaf’s deceleration through throttle-pedal usage), the Nissan operates much like any other automatic compact hatchback with a foot-operated parking brake.
In fact, driving the Leaf on a daily basis requires vigilance for the sake of other road users. Thanks to the Nissan’s near-silent running, pedestrians in the vehicle’s path are less likely to anticipate its approach. And, when queuing up for a parking spot at a shopping complex, motorists that rely on their ability to hear the idling motor of a vehicle in the proximity of theirs (instead of checking their mirrors before maneuvering) may necessitate a hurried thump to the hooter.
So far, we’ve used R364,00 worth of electricity for this test (it works out to a per-kilometre cost of only 30 cents). Now to see whether we can reduce consumption ever further…
After 1 month
Mileage on arrival: 139 km
Mileage now: 1 197 km
Energy consumption: 20,25 kWh/100 km
We like: build quality, instant torque, pliant ride
We don’t like: higher energy consumption at freeway speeds