Category Archives: Nissan

News and reviews of Nissan electric cars (including plug-in hybrids).

Electric Cars (Image: Autocar)

Hyundai Ioniq, Volkswagen E-Golf, BMW i3 vs Nissan Leaf

BMW, e-Golf, Electric Cars, Hyundai, i3, i3 94Ah, IONIQ Electric, Leaf, News, Reviews and Comment, Nissan, Volkswagen

The Hyundai Ioniq Electric is the latest addition to a growing class of city-friendly battery-powered hatchbacks. We pit it against its rivals

The electric vehicle market is growing, so we’ve collected the Hyundai Ioniq, Volkswagen E-Golf, BMW i3 and Nissan Leaf together to see which comes out on top.

Hyundai Ioniq, Volkswagen E-Golf, BMW i3 vs Nissan Leaf - electric vehicle group test (Image: Autocar)
Hyundai Ioniq, Volkswagen E-Golf, BMW i3 vs Nissan Leaf – electric vehicle group test (Image: Autocar)

A watched EV never boils. More to the point, it doesn’t bleep, flash, pop, ping or do anything else that you might imagine an all-electric hatchback ought to do to indicate a completed charge. Shame. I like the idea of a Nissan Leaf gradually browning, wafting warm toast smells in every direction, before spontaneously hopping three feet into the air like a slice of Warburton’s ready for the butter knife.

It would at least make an interesting spectacle in the motorway services car park in which we’re now waiting. We’ve got four brand-new battery cars lined up in front of Ecotricity’s fast chargers, each suckling almost noiselessly in turn from the national grid, before setting off on an exercise we’ve been waiting a long time to carry out.

It was six years ago that the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i-MiEV first tested the appetite of drivers all over the developed world for a compact, affordable electric hatchback. It’s an appetite that’s needed plenty of encouragement, but it’s finally growing at something close to the rate those evangelical early market entrants had hoped for. Viewed globally, the market for pure EVs and plug-in hybrids will total more than 600,000 cars this year, up about 50% year on year. Just over half of all those ‘plug-in’ cars sold this year will be wholly electric-powered.

More important, as concerns today’s agenda, the all-electric hatchback market now provides the UK motorist with enough choice to populate a full Autocar group test. Welcome, then, the new Hyundai Ioniq Electric to UK showrooms. And allow us to introduce it to the similarly priced, all-electric rivals against which its stature must be measured: the Nissan Leaf, Volkswagen e-Golf and BMW i3.

Having followed the early-stage development of these zero-emissions pioneers, we’ve become used to the strengths and limitations of electric propulsion at the affordable end of the ownership spectrum. An £80,000 Tesla may already offer the sort of cruising range it takes to replace internal combustion in a car for almost any occasion or journey, but a £25,000 Leaf doesn’t – and probably won’t for a few years yet.

Where affordable EVs have already shown strength is when performing as responsive, relaxing, cost-efficient short-range transport, in the role typically served by the second car in a family. And that’s how we’re going to test today’s field. We’ve plotted a route across north London, taking in some of its most congested streets and winding up at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Newham. We simply want to know which of these cars would serve you best with predominantly urban use in mind.

Before we set off, time for a quick poke around our newbie: the Hyundai Ioniq. The Leaf, i3 and e-Golf are well known to us, all having been the subject of Autocar road tests over the past few years and all serving customers looking for slightly different things from their first EV. And rather than competing for exactly the same customers as any of its new-found rivals, the Ioniq definitely adds to the breadth of choice in the market.

Read more: Autocar

Petar Kralev and his wife, Lyuba, collecting their Nissan LEAF (Image: Evening Standard)

How to make the move to electric cars

Electric Cars, Leaf, News, Reviews and Comment, Nissan

No longer a futuristic novelty, electric cars are becoming an increasingly common sight on Britain’s streets.

Petar Kralev and his wife, Lyuba, collecting their Nissan LEAF (Image: Evening Standard)
Petar Kralev and his wife, Lyuba, collecting their Nissan LEAF (Image: Evening Standard)

Most of the major car manufacturers are now either selling or developing electric and hybrid models, even the supercar makers at Ferrari are planning on fitting every new car with a hybrid powertrain by 2019. There will be roughly 500,000 electric cars on Europe’s streets by the end of the year.

The Nissan LEAF is the world’s best-selling fully electric car, with more than 180,000 sold last year. It’s a true all-electric vehicle – with no range-extending or hybrid petrol engine in sight.

It comes in several variations, with prices ranging from £21,000 to £27,000 but that’s before the UK Government plug-in car grant of £4,500. WhatCar recommends a target price of £12,863-£24,535 for a new LEAF, which is also road tax and Congestion Charge exempt.

Petar and Lyuba Kralev are a London couple who traded in their Audi A3 Cabriolet and purchased the Nissan LEAF 24kwh, which comes with an everyday driving range of 124 miles. Their Leaf will soon have its two year anniversary with couple, who are now going the whole-hog and installing solar panels on their house, providing them with free electricity from renewable source.

Many potential customers looking at the EV market are put off by fears that the battery won’t carry them far enough, but Petar Kralev tells me this has not been an issue. Petar has a daily 40-60 minute commute between Romford and London’s Canary Wharf, and tells me he has never suffered from “range anxiety”, even on a 150 mile round trip.

I caught up with Petar Kralev and asked him about life with his electric motor.

Why the move to EV?

Electric vehicles are the cars of the future, there’s no doubt about it. They’re cheaper to run and also quieter than any other car on the road. I find it easier to drive an electric car compared to other options – more so than any other vehicle with an automatic transmission. All the power is instant, whether you’re moving or from a standstill.

Read more: Standard

'Battery Level is Low' (Image: J. Tisdall)

Musing on range anxiety

Blog, Electric Cars, Leaf, Nissan

My daily commute is currently a 64 mile round trip; a beautiful cross country route ending in Milton Keynes (free parking for electric cars – yippee – saves me £20 a week).

I know that my first generation Leaf is good for 75 miles in cold weather, increasing up to 90 miles in the summer (and even higher if I drive slowly). Probably because I am a bit mean and only like to charge at home on Economy 7, this means that in winter, I am always down to my last 10 miles when I get home.

However, last week we had an exceptional day. It was very cold, with snow sweeping through the country and the combination of cold, with surface snow and slush (which increases resistance to movement) meant that I knew I would be closer to the limit than usual.

Sure enough, as I got close to home, my remaining distance went from 6 miles to blank and the gentle voice of my satnav told me to find a charge point urgently.

'Battery Level is Low' (Image: J. Tisdall)
‘Battery Level is Low’ (Image: J. Tisdall)

All was well as I got home and plugged in, but it was interesting how an event that in my early days of ownership would have had me on the edge of my seat and white-knuckled, was now something to take in my stride. I realise that what has changed is that electric car driving has now become normal for me. I have come to trust that the range is actually pretty consistent, and I have learnt the slightly different way of thinking that electric cars demand.

Finally, I am free to simply enjoy the ride.

Millennials say driving an eco-friendly car is the primary action they’d take to make their lives greener

Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, Leaf, News, Reviews and Comment, Nissan

More than three quarters of millennials (76 percent) consider driving an eco-friendly car as the best choice to make their lives more environmentally friendly, according to a Nissan European study investigating millennials’ attitudes towards electric and hybrid vehicles.

Revealed exclusively by Gareth Dunsmore, Nissan’s Director of Electric Vehicles at FutureFest in London, the study probed the views of 2,500 European millennials (aged 18 to 34) across the UK, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain.

The study found that as a generation, millennials are willing to try new things, challenge processes, and think differently about the future. As such, the report showed that the environmental concerns of millennials aren’t smaller scale issues like recycling (24 percent) or overflowing landfills (14 percent) but global issues such as climate change (53 percent) and air pollution (42 percent). To help solve these issues, they are willing to make bold changes such as switching to an energy provider dedicated to eco-friendly solutions (62 percent), or supporting brands that are committed to being more environmentally friendly (53 percent).

Perhaps surprisingly, the majority of millennials surveyed owned a car (77 percent). Although they might not be driving electric vehicles now, they are in the market for future driving technology with over half saying they would buy an electric car in the next 10 years.

With a focus on Intelligent Mobility solutions that have an ultimate goal of zero emissions and zero fatalities, Nissan has been pioneering the pure electric vehicle market since the introduction of the 100 percent electric, zero emission Nissan LEAF in 2010. There are now more than 230,000 Nissan LEAFs on the road worldwide, securing it as the world’s best-selling EV. Nissan recently introduced the third generation model that delivers 26 percent more range versus the previous model, and up to 250 km of driving range on a single charge.

Gareth Dunsmore, Director of Electric Vehicles, Nissan Europe, said:

“We’ve always known that millennials are the challenger generation but our European study has also revealed that they’re the future ‘change-makers’ – willing to make drastic lifestyle choices to make a meaningful difference to the world they live in. It gives me immeasurable hope to see that millennials believe electric vehicles, such as the Nissan LEAF and e-NV200 that are already on the road today, are part of the solution for a more sustainable future. As an industry we must work harder to engage the interests and needs of this group.”

Source: Electric Cars Report

Top 5 best Electric Cars

Electric cars are getting better all the time, making them a more realistic proposition for more people. These are currently our experts’ favourite five

More and more people are coming to realise that an electric a car is a genuine proposition for 21st-centrury motoring.

With increasing amounts of us living in the city or the suburbs, and never needing to undertake long journeys by car, the relaxing drive and low running costs of an electric car are making them all the more attractive.

Of course, most are not without their limitations – most have a real-world range of no more than 100 miles; they’re comparatively dear to buy; and, you need easy access to charging facilities – but as long as you can live with those restrictions (and more people than will admit it, can…), an electric car is a very sensible choice.

The question is what to buy, but with more and more makers selling electric cars, you can find pretty much whatever you want – from city cars to sports cars, and all points in between. And, if you are tempted, let our experts guide you through the best of the current crop.

Nissan Leaf – the British-built one

More than any other, the Leaf is the car that convinced a sceptical public that an electric car was something to consider; and, even now, it’s a compelling proposition. Around town – which is the natural habitat of an electric car – the Leaf is smooth, comfortable and near-silent. Even in the heaviest traffic, the way it drives is supremely relaxing. Above all, apart from the range, there are no sacrifices to make: the Leaf is a decent five-seater, while the boot will take plenty of luggage. As with any electric car, everyday motoring can cost just pennies, and to cap it all, it even costs less to service than a comparable Pulsar.

Renault Zoe – the (relatively) cheap one

One of the main attractions of electric cars is that they cost so little to run, but the trouble with so many of them is that they cost so much to buy. Not so the Zoe, which is yours for little more than the price of a decently-specced Clio. The beauty of it is that, despite the fact that you’re not spending a million dollars, the Zoe is still a very smart-looking little thing. The blue accents on the outside are complemented by a hi-tech interior; and, as the car was designed from the ground up as an electric car, the batteries don’t limit the car’s practicality too much. It’s good to drive, too, and the icing on the cake is a five-star Euro NCAP crash test rating.

Read more: Autotrader

Nissan Leaf

New Nissan Leaf fuel included October 2016

Blog, Electric Cars, Leaf, Leaf 30kWh, Nissan

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