The drive comfort is also being hailed by owners as being exceptional, the spacious cabin and quiet ride make for an excellent commute through Sri Lanka’s loud and often infuriating traffic.
“It's like you are inside a soundproof room”
- Owner of a Nissan Leaf
With the rear seats up, you have about 24 cubic feet of storage space, but you can fold the rear seats flat, giving you 30 cubic feet, which while isn’t by any means the best in its class, it’s still pretty impressive considering the battery cells its carrying. To put this in perspective,
30 cubic feet roughly translates to 7 large suitcases or ~225 dehusked coconuts.
You’ll notice these when you sit in the back as the floor is raised, but there’s still plenty of legroom and can comfortably seat 2 adults and 1 child, or 3 adults with just a bit of a squeeze. With no engine revving away, the drive is completely silent. This will probably take a little bit of getting used to, especially when starting the car, as the complete lack of anything happening under the hood can feel a little weird.
The quiet ride is oddly helped by the headlights.
The extruding design isn’t just an effort to make the Leaf look different, it actually aids in channeling air over the side mirrors, making the interior even quieter. In fact, with a drag coefficient of just 0.28 makes the Leaf pretty aerodynamic, with most standard vehicles ranging 0.30 and above.
Living With :
The year, 2013. The Car, The Nissan Leaf. The nation’s roads are met with silence as they are introduced to their first electric car, its badge “Zero Emissions” glisten-ing as it calmly cruises through the streets of Colombo. Fast forward to present day, the Leaf has been in the market for almost 3 years,
Do the numbers match
the initial promises?
Can you do 160kms on
a full charge as stated?
Is it the money saver it
was built up to be?
Has it found a home on
our roads?
In short, no and yes. The 160km driving range would have been con-sidered optimistic, but the truth is that you’ll do well to hit 120km on a full charge — if your foot is more on the heavier side, then expect 80km to 100km to be the limit.
Fear not, while the range doesn’t live up to the manufacturer’s prom-ises, the Leaf more than makes up for it by providing an exceptional
driving experience for its class. The electric motor that powers the car delivers instant torque to the wheels, which translates to great pick up and a smooth transition from stand still to cruising speeds. With the Single Speed Direct Drive Transmission, you won’t feel the drop power as you do with an automatic as it shifts gears.
It produces approximately 107 BHP, but the instantaneous distribution of power takes you from stop to 100kmph without too much of a fuss in ~12 seconds, despite being considerably heavier than its main competition.
The Nissan Leaf
REVIEW