But only on two weeks free trial.

Went for it as I am interested in various cars and wanted to see what it's like.

First impression is the silence is quite odd at low speed.

Interesting - think the silence is the strangest thing. We ran some full electric trucks in Central London for a client and ended up putting some external speakers on them, with some "white" noise because of the number of pedestrians not hearing it.

A silent car creeping up on people could be quite dangerous!

Interested to hear your thoughts.

They are quite ugly if it's the one I'm thinking it is? We're getting full electric buses later in the year, should be interesting!

This is the leaf,

http://www.nissan.co.uk/vehicles/electric-vehicles/electric-leaf/leaf.html#vehicles/electric-vehicles/electric-leaf/leaf

There could be a shock for Leaf owners in four/five years when the battery packs need replacing, I expect by then as well as the cost of a new battery pack the government will have imposed a special disposal tax (for our own good of course!)

My father worked for Lucas, and over thirty years ago they were testing a battery powered taxi. When the battery pack was flat it was disconnected and lowered, the cab was then pushed forward over another power pack which was raised into position. At the time the opinion was that until a battery cell which could produce more than 1.5 volts had been developed progress would be slow. They appear to have been right, I tend to think a hydrogen fuel cell will eventually be the way.

Oiy, this is my second car The business has four of them and two other EV's. Yes they aren't pretty to look at but they are one of the best specced EV's. Seats are comfortable too. Only thing is it handles like a boat

Fact is, if you know what mileage your doing, it's very very nice. I don't even have to pay for the electrcity. Free motoring. Enjoy your trial mate.

If the battery is drained ...it will take 16 amps for 8 hours to recharge it....at 15p a unit ....I may be wrong ....but I make that £19.20

and does anyone know......when its cold outside does it have a heater?

it does have a heater... uses power though...

some of them have a solar panel (it was an option) to charge the battery that runs the ancillerys...

one of these overtook me on a dual carrigeway when I was on an emergancy run! granted I was doing 50mph in a 70mph zone up a hill and not accelerating! lol... (I got him down the hill )

it does have a heater... uses power though...

some of them have a solar panel (it was an option) to charge the battery that runs the ancillerys...

one of these overtook me on a dual carrigeway when I was on an emergancy run! granted I was doing 50mph in a 70mph zone up a hill and not accelerating! lol... (I got him down the hill )

Thank god I'm not the only one to have been overtaken by one ...my work van has a limiter fitted....so I didn't see it again....oooh the shame

Thank god I'm not the only one to have been overtaken by one ...my work van has a limiter fitted....so I didn't see it again....oooh the shame

lol..... thankfully our "work vans" are not limited

Interested to hear your thoughts.

that's about all you'll hear! Personally I reckon the H fuel cell is the only way forward. How much energy is used in the production and disposal of electric vehicles? Do they offset enough to make them viable? Rang anxiety? Heavy metals? Just throwin that into the mix,

First day, I had 70 miles to do. Got home with 9 miles on the range still by driving rather carefully...

It's comfortable, well equipped and surprising fun to drive.

Have to admit long term I have big questions about the range as the battery starts to degrade, as well as when I need the air-con, lights, wipers etc...

Thought it would be a bit naff, but I kind of like it. Not a looker though.

Got home and plugged it in at 3:30pm so it's filling up off the solar panels on the roof. (well, partly anyway)

I agree with the hydrogen fuel cell. I also believe that's the way forward. But it's nice to try different things without any costs other than a bit of electric.

Oh, and I only nearly ran over three people today that didn't hear me coming.

Just read the manual and found there is a noise maker you can switch on under 20mph for people who don't look.

Richard, are you using it to comute or just for running around in the day?

Had a good look at one at the Grand Designs Show / EV Show at Execl the other week,

But found myself drawn to one of these,

http://www.mia-electric.com/ Liked the all singing and danceing one, Leather all over the place.

Will be having a test drive in a Renault Twizy soon. http://www.renault.c...e/electric.aspx

Edit, just seen you are using it to commute, must have typed your post while i was typeing mine.

Commuting and a bit of running around, saves 1000 miles on the Yeti while I've got it.

Just means I'll need to charge it for a few hours at work to make sure I can get home.

I wouldn't have today if I had the climate control on.

It's a little extreame, to get a Leaf, so you can still have " + a Nissan " in your Sig.

If the battery is drained ...it will take 16 amps for 8 hours to recharge it....at 15p a unit ....I may be wrong ....but I make that £19.20

16 amp @ 240v is approx 4kw. Therefore 4 x 15 x 8= £4.80

It's a little extreame, to get a Leaf, so you can still have " + a Nissan " in your Sig.

The GT-R has not been collected yet. I'm waiting for the V5c to come back without my BossFox reg on it.

Oh, and I forgot to change it.

There could be a shock for Leaf owners in four/five years when the battery packs need replacing.

The battery pack has an eight year warranty on it...

First day, I had 70 miles to do. Got home with 9 miles on the range still by driving rather carefully...

That would be my underlying fear, running out of "battery power". Is the Leaf totally electric, no backup?

At least in a Prius it switches over but in this you can't just top up can you?

Yup, Coops - it's a milk float!

This is what concerns me most about them - range extenders at least have the option of generating more electricery

That would be my underlying fear, running out of "battery power". Is the Leaf totally electric, no backup?

At least in a Prius it switches over but in this you can't just top up can you?

No, electric only. No engine at all.

I am now topping up at work too, just in case.

I came flying into work this morning and the range went from 77 miles (80% charged) to 44 miles in just 5 miles... It's quite brisk when pushed.

Just I can't get home again unless I recharge it.

To be fair Nissan did tell me that if you don't use eco mode and hoof it about it will do between 40 and 45 miles. So it certainly encourages sensible driving as I would have managed 80 yesterday.

I was told one of the previous testers picked it up, had 80 miles to get home and drove it briskly.

They had a call from the Highways Agency apparently to pick it up 20 miles from the guy's house as he never made it.

Think I hated in Eco Mode is if you take your foot off the accelerator at 50mph, it'll stop almost dead in 3-4 seconds because of the Brake Energy Recoup. Plus it only makes you drive Eco by making the pedal rock hard :p

I like the idea of having an electric car in terms of local trips and the odd further trip but the idea of running out of electricity would scare me a bit!

At least if I run out of diesel I know I can take the jerry can out the boot and fill it at a petrol station somewhere. With electricity you are totally screwed!

The only other option would be a generator in the boot to give it a little charge to get you a few miles (But maybe take the generator out the boot before running it?!)

The leaf when compared to other EV's is a very nice one. Isn't it cheaper than the likes of the i-MEV and that horrible peugeot one?

I think if I wanted an electric vehicle looking at current technology it would need to be a Hybrid. Like the look of the new Citroen diesel hybrid.

I think future will need to be Hydrogen fuel cells or greater advancements in battery technology.

Phil

Think I hated in Eco Mode is if you take your foot off the accelerator at 50mph, it'll stop almost dead in 3-4 seconds because of the Brake Energy Recoup. Plus it only makes you drive Eco by making the pedal rock hard :p

I quite like that. With a bit of forward planning you can use the Brake Energy Recoup to drive it on one pedal.

Shame the same mode also removes around half the effectiveness of the accelerator.

As you say, you have to press it down a lot more to make reasonable progress, but for pottering around town it's fine.