At work we've recently been testing a Nissan Leaf - we've bought one nationally, and its been going on tour around all of our offices, spending 2-3 weeks at each. Now its our turn, and yesterday, I had a chance to use it. I thought that you might all be interested in the brief review that I wrote after the journey. The vehicle has a range of approximately 60 miles, which isn't sufficient to reach any of our other offices with charging points (or make a return journey to offices without charging points).

14/02/2013

Nissan Leaf – WV12***

Range at start:- 76 miles

Range at end:- 12 miles

Miles driven: 47 – on a range of A-roads, B-roads, country roads, and urban driving, with a short section of farm track.

In general, I was impressed with the car – it was quiet, comfortable and rode/drove well. The car was well equipped, with cruise control, sat nav, reversing camera, climate control, traction control, automatic wipers, and automatic lights. In my view, the sat nav is essential in a car of this type, as it allows the driver to compare the distance to destination with the range remaining in the battery. During my test, I set all of the gadgets (lights, wipers & climate control) to ‘automatic’, to represent a ‘normal’ journey, and retained a ‘normal’ driving style (generally leaning towards economy) rather than aiming purely for economy.

The steering, which was presumably electric rather than hydraulic, lacked ‘feel’, but I soon got used to this. I also felt that the brakes were poor, perhaps being better suited to a ‘normal’ car of this size, rather than something this heavy. The weight, particularly over the front end, led a to slight tendency to understeer, but this may have been exaggerated by the (presumably) energy saver tyres. I also found that on rougher ground (farm tracks etc...), the ground clearance was very low, leading to multiple impacts under the vehicle. This was a track that I drive regularly, in a number of different vehicles, none of which have had any problem in the past.

Due to the poor range, I was unable to give the Leaf a full test – but if this were to be improved, then I believe that it would be a useful addition to the fleet, although it should be limited to use on sealed roads. An increase in the number of charging points and the speed of charging, would further improve the usability of this vehicle. It is my belief that In its current state, this vehicle could only fulfil a tiny proportion of the journeys made as a pool car in this office.

Hi,

I had a two week trial last year as per my thread here if you are interested.

http://www.briskoda....__ nissan??leaf

I have also just bought one. It arrives in two weeks, which I'll be writing about here:

http://www.briskoda....-minus-14-days/

"Range insufficient to reach any of our offices with charging points,or to make a return journey to this office."

Sums everything up nicely in just 1 sentence...

What sort of temperatures were you driving in and what sort of terrain were you covering?

Just wondering since the mileage will change depending on those factors too.

Heating makes a big difference, as does gradients as you say.

It's best to prewarm the car while it's plugged in (thereby not reducing the range) which can be done from a smartphone via the Carwings App.

Hi,

I had a two week trial last year as per my thread here if you are interested.

http://www.briskoda....__ nissan??leaf

I have also just bought one. It arrives in two weeks, which I'll be writing about here:

http://www.briskoda....-minus-14-days/

Doh, failure to use the search function again! how many fairies/angels/bunnies have I killed this time?

Ah, I wondered what the CarWings thingy was! Its was about 8 degrees and sunny, with the climate set to 16.5. Light shower at one stage, but the wipers weren't on for long.

Doh, failure to use the search function again! how many fairies/angels/bunnies have I killed this time?

No problem, I just added that in case you wanted to compare experiences.

Ah, I wondered what the CarWings thingy was! Its was about 8 degrees and sunny, with the climate set to 16.5. Light shower at one stage, but the wipers weren't on for long.

It's pretty good.

From your smartphone you can see how charged the battery is, how much range you have and how long it needs to fully charge.

In addition you can switch the charging on and off, if you need to for timed cheaper electricity. Plus activate the climate control or set a timer so you don't forget to prewarm the car next time you use it.

The LEAF has an unusual heating system, using electricity to warm a "water tank" that then provides heat.

This uses a lot of energy, but by prewarming this it makes a noticable difference to the range (in cold weather) as the water is warmed from the mains before you set off.

Lights (Fully LED) and wipers use little electric. It's the heater, gradients and driving fast that harm the range far more than anything else.

Hmmm, interesting! All great if using it as a personal vehicle, but as a shared-use car at work (with no or locked down company smartphones), we're unlikely to get the full benefits.

Yes, when we had a trial I couldn't use it either. (because I didn't know about it!)

But as I have one arriving in two weeks I've already downloaded the app and had a demo with Nissan.