Electric car

Nissan Leaf electric car

I believe the best thing to fully understand a new technology is to use it yourself. I got given the privilege to use the Nissan Leaf a couple of times and make my own opinion about it. First things first, it’s design is quite acceptable and it’s rather spacious inside. And it’s zero emission !

Using it made me nervous at first. The funny thing about this electric car is that it makes no sound but the one of the radio :) It’s full of technology, including reverse camera and sat nav. Also, there are only two pedals : accelerator and brake. That makes it odd for a gear user... But, you know, I quickly got familiar with the basic commands. Time to unlock the parking break and go...

Where to ? Well, not far... That’s the main drawback : the limited distance you can go before you have to recharge again. Depending on the way you drive, you’ve got between 100 and 150km of autonomy. They advert 175 but I wouldn’t go as far as that. Then it has to go to re-charge for 8 hours.

Driving it is fun. It’s not unlike any other car. The weird thing is that it powers up slightly when you use your brakes. Also, everything is potentially decreasing your autonomy : driving fast, using your lights... At first, your eyes can’t leave the speedometer : oh my god, I lost 5 km ! But after a while, you realise it’s quite reliable and that you shouldn’t worry.

Clearly, it’s designed to be urban. It’s got an excellent acceleration and you quickly forget you’re in a “different” car.

The - : it’s more than twice the price of a similar diesel car

The + : it is 3 times cheaper to use than a diesel car