Today I was given the opportunity to test drive a prototype of the
Nissan LEAF. It's the first (or one of the first) 100% electric, no emission vehicle available. I've driven a couple of
Toyota Prius (
what IS the plural of Prius?) before and while it's a nice car, I'm just not that enthusiastic about it so I was interested to see what I'd think of the LEAF.
Always one to throw people for a curve ball, I brought along my 3 year old daughter. Hey, if they want to sell this car to moms, I'm gonna test drive it that way, carseat and all. The carseat fit well. Since it's a prototype, it didn't have the latch system (I had to explain what that meant) but easy enough, that's what seatbelts are for. In went the carseat, in went the child. The real deal WILL have the latch system, if you're wondering.
I climbed into the front seat with my host, a Nissan rep, in the passenger seat. We didn't take a long drive but long enough that I was able to get the feel of the car, test out the "go" from 0 to slightly above the speed limit (I won't say how much above but I was impressed at how quickly and smoothly it accelerated), ask plenty of questions and give lots of opinions from my mom-perspective.
The LEAF is nice. Supremely quiet. Ever the thinker, I immediately thought of my father-in-law and, increasingly, my dad, who are getting a little hard of hearing. If you know people that are losing their hearing, you know how difficult it is to have a conversation with them in a loud spaces. Well, this car is made for those people. The only sounds you hear are outside the car because there isn't an engine to mask them. Turns out they had to tinker with the windshield wipers because, in this car, you realize exactly how loud regular wiper systems are.
After pondering how great this car would be for people who aren't able to converse in loud settings, I asked my host about sight-impaired people and seeing-eye dogs. I read somewhere that electric cars can be quite dangerous for the sight-impaired because electric cars are too quiet. Turns out Nissan has solved that problem. They've added a noise that you can hear OUTSIDE the car, if the car is going below a certain speed -- basically your toodling around town speed when you're most likely to encounter crosswalks and that sort of thing. There is no added noise above a certain speed because at some point, noise happens. Cool.
The interior. The seats were cushy. I liked that as I have a bony rear and hard seats are the bane of my existence. Well, one of the many banes. Bonus: Turns out they are made of RECYCLED PLASTIC BOTTLES. Yes! So glad to hear there is something being produced out of those insidious things besides more plastic.
The car is fully equipped with GPS and all that good stuff. One of the most exciting (to me) features included the "fuel" gage. It not only tells you how many miles you have left in your charge but also how far you can go. Yup, with a map. The car I drove had a "fuel" radius that would take us past Vernonia (the car was less than half full). Probably further but I was so fascinated with the fact that a map was telling me how far the car could go on its current charge that I wasn't really looking past that, plus, I was driving. Gotta keep the eyes on the road!
Like most cars, it has a place to plug in your
iPhone, your iPod and all of the other doodads that I didn't recognize. Something about a prong system?! Anyway, it's loaded. Plenty of cupholders and the glove box is big enough I suggested adding a shelf.
The other suggestions I made? More places to put stuff. It has one of those keyless starts and if you have a car with one, consider yourself lucky if you're not always losing the keys. If you're me, you lose them in your purse, if you're my husband, you lose them in that skinny spot between the seat and the console, argh! Earlier this year I rented a car while out of town and the car had a little cubby for the keys. Loved it and suggested it.
I also mentioned a special pocket for iPhones and the like. Much better than having your phone sliding around or offering
temptation because you see a text come in and well, we know YOU don't read/respond to text messages when you're driving but human nature says
a lot of people do.
I also suggested some "mom" things like automatic hatchdoor (is that a word?) and video screens on the headrests for the kidlets. Nissan Man said they were trying to keep the price affordable, which makes sense but there's a reason moms drive mini vans and while space is one issue, some of the amenities definitely matter when you're carting around a 3 year old... or any kid(s). I told him these things could be offered in the "luxury" package and he seemed to like that idea.
Oh, and for those wondering if an electric car will put your baby to sleep the way a gas guzzler will? We arrived back at PGE with my angelic 3 year old fast asleep.
Oh, one last thing: The Battery. Unlike your iPhone, the batteries do not have a number of times you can charge them before they die. After about 10 years of use, the charges won't hold quite as well but still will hold. When the battery does die? It goes to PGE who will use it for solar power or something like that (I should have taken notes). The important thing is, it will live another life, NOT head for the landfill.
You can charge this car on any regular outlet. Seriously. If the car is on "empty", it will take about 20 hours for it to be "full" on a regular outlet; unless you are doing some looooooong drives, a regular outlet is more than sufficient. And by regular outlet, I mean like the one you plug your blender into, nothing special. Just plug the car in at night, like you do your iPhone and in the morning, unplug and drive w/more than enough charge to get you where you want to go. If you want to go the exciting route, you can buy yourself a fancy, schmancy charger that is about the size of a shoe box but snazzier looking and ready for insta-charge. The charger isn't cheap but you do get a tax credit. IMO, most people won't need the charger so nothing to stress about if your pocketbook is aching.
** Thanks to
@OnPointCU for directing me to the plural of Prius article
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