It still won't be
widely available until 2012, but Nissan's
Leaf is already leaking out to a few select media outlets. Our comrades over at
Autoblog managed to get behind the wheel of the all-electric whip down in San Jose, and while they didn't find anything that changed the admittedly developing game, what they
did find was a solid, refined EV that's "ready for primetime." They were quick to praise the design, which doesn't scream "oddball" like some of the earlier electric automobiles. As for the ride? That was deemed "suitably smooth," while the interior was found to be "a few degrees better than what you'd find in an economy car of similar size." In fact, the overriding tone of the review was one of unsurprised satisfaction, with critics noting that the "gadgetry is impressive, but no more so than some of the hybrid options available from Nissan's competitors," and in the end, the Leaf doesn't aim to "change the driving experience, just change the method of motivation." Hit the source link for the full skinny.
posted July 27th 2010 4:24PM
@whiskers yes yes, forgot to mention that the "engine" in a Tesla doesn't function the same way as a typical vehicle's engine, so it isn't directly comparable to a normal combustion engine.
@ravissimo
Spoke with a salesman from Tesla and while a gasolin engine has 150+ movable parts, Tesla engines only has 8.
@bingster
get a life man...
Super excited about EVs, but this is kinda... not attractive.
Why can't they make "Green" cars that don't look like crappy economy cars.
@Critic2029
Amen, I don't understand why they can't make cool looking EVs like the Ford Fiesta, 350Z, Spyder, etc.
If anything, an EV should give them even greater flexibility in making an attractive shape, since the electric motor is compact, there aren't big cooling needs, and the batteries can be lined along the floor.
@bingster "its an eccentric electric car" ITS?
@madwh
A typo!? How dare they!
A prerequisite for making an EV is, above all else, make it extremely ugly.
That thing is hideous!
@T0astedP0Ptart yeah. it's gonna be one for the ages. it's at lest comparable with the stuf inthe teens and twenties in this video.
Top 30 ugliest cars of all time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpe1I6Lewng&feature=player_embedded
@statickeith (hangs head in shame) Yes, that was me. DRKSDE stocks had fallen dramatically and the Death Star needed funding to proceed with it's building. I had to sell my lightsaber for some money and i mind tricked one of the Earth cops to give me their gun. I also had to sell my cape, thus i was wearing the ragged blue one from a 'deceased' Jedi. I am not pleased with my actions that day. Especially since i could've just mind tricked Bill Gates into handing me over his wealth
Why do these cars have to be ugly?
$25k after tax savings
@Lord Vader or may be you could have mind-tricked Steve Jobs too so that he would have stopped being a dick and stopped the antennagate?
But you know, you could have sold your lightsaber to me, I could have given you quite a handsome amount of money for that.
@statickeith
Wow, you snuck in an anti iPhone comment here. Just wow.
"They were quick to praise the design, which doesn't scream "oddball" like some of the earlier electric automobiles."
Dude, I saw the picture. No matter how much you say "She doesn't look like a troll like my last girlfriend did", we're not blind. We're just going to spend even more time making fun of the fact that your new girlfriend lives under a bridge, is covered in green hair, and harrasses passerby's for money in order to cross.
Since no one seems to be able to design a "good" looking hybrid or electric car, could someone please offer a "boring" model for me? Please?
@PaulRivers
The volt looks pretty close to being a normal car, as in its not ugly, and its an electric car.
@T0astedP0Ptart A "normal car" for $42,000. Actually, a normal 4 passenger car for $42,000. Welcome to the new normal.
@PaulRivers A good looking hybrid, IMO, is the Ford Fusion hybrid. As for all-electric, the world still waits...
@MadJoe Oh yeah, I forgot about the Ford Fusion! Lol, my brain has been focused on cars I can fit my bike in the back of. :-)
I don't think people realize the true potential of the Leaf.
For city dwellers who only need to use the car every so often, Car Shares can use the Leaf as cars for transport and make money while we don't have to pay that much for gas.
@AKBlade13 I realize the true potential of electric cars in general, but I also see that this is the ugliest car I have seen since the Aztek, maybe even uglier, and there's no way I am spending $42k on a car that's impossible to drive cross-country, has no AWD, and will probably have all sorts of first-gen technology problems. That said, I'm super happy to see these things finally making it to market. Maybe in 20 years they will start to become affordable? 50 years?
Hope you've got a big trunk...
'cause i'm gonna stick my bike in it.
@Lord Vader Well that made my day.
Its great that these cars are coming out soon, but I have to agree with the other posters, plug-in hybrids are the immediate future until we actually have some sort of hi-powered quick-charging station infrastructure built up.
And yeah, why do all the eco-cars look so bad? If Chevy actually had any design sense they would have found a way to make the Volt look more like their concept Volt... it actually looked like a $40,000 car instead of a Prius look-alike.
@Bhima
At least the volt doesn't look like this....this thing is just, well, disgusting. Its almost as bad as the Nissan Cube
@Bhima
I don't understand the need to make electric cars ugly either. The volt concept was awesome then turned to uninteresting for production. This car is painfully ugly and unnecessarily so.
why is it that all EV cars have to be soooo damn ugly!
@nabberuk I beg to differ. The LEAF is ugly, but the Volt looks nice, and the Tesla???
*drools*
@VetteDude
the leaf is ok looking, not great. You cant count the tesla as they didnt really design it. It's just a lotus.
@nabberuk
Well actually It's not just a Lotus, it definitely has its own unique styling cues.
Plus, have you seen the Model S? HOT!
@Gad Get I'm thinking this is the original design model
http://www.everythingbabything.com/readingroom/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/cloth-diaper-baby-bottom-chubby-legs-feet-toes-little-infant-soft-skin-pink-tender-cute-adorable-snuggle-cuddle-fabric-pattern-decoration-fashion-style-green-eco-friendly-photo.jpg
If they ever get public charging stations going , they will be prime targets , as well as the cars , for vandals.
It`s not like a filling station where someone is supervising it.
@bufbarnaby shouldn't be much worse than a parking meter. It would work about the same. You could combine them even.
I wonder how this car (and other EVs) will compare against the Hummer in a dust-to-dust comparison study! The good'ol hybrids didn't fare so well!
http://reason.org/news/show/122517.html
And how about the Canada/US blackout of 2003? If Air Conditioning can cause that much strain.......... Gather your non-perishables people!
@Clevernamehere
Thats nonsense. EVs are generally using NIMH batteries, which are the most environmentally friendly to recycle, and are even economical to do so, with the value of the recovered nickel exceeding the cost of recycling.
Even lead acid batteries have over a 99% recycle rate per government statistics. People just aren't going to leave huge nimh packs that are worth money or free to recycle on the side of the road, and damaged batteries recycle all the same.
Adding more power to the grid is not rocket science, large plants are more efficient at producing power than lots of little ICE, easier to control emissions, completely flexible in how the power is produced (nuclear/solar/wind/hydro/bio/etc), and a bunch of EVs on the grid actually act as a UPS for the country's grid enhancing national security and mitigating some of the peak-hour-power issues.
@Clevernamehere That "study" has been repeatedly debunked but keeps resurfacing because it "sounds so ironic". The study made a lot of bad assumptions about longevity, mileage, and recycling that seriously distorted the story.
A nicely appointed economy car for only $32,000. Oh wait, the government will pay me to buy it. Well, they will until the subsidy runs out. A nicely appointed economy car for $25,000. The future is here.
Good, began to massify electric cars. I hope so
Greetings
Fabián
I'm a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar.
This thing is going to be remembered as the Aztek of electric cars. Ugliest. Car. .... in a very long time.
This car is not attractive. Look's like a late 90's honda civic with a mazda 3 makeover.
The Chevy Volt has the edge on sexiness by far.
I'm surprised how many Engadget readers pretend to have a sense for fashion!