http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/latest-reviews/2014-nissan-leaf-great-daily-driver-limits-article-1.1771417 2014 Nissan Leaf is a great daily driver, within limits BY Christian Wardlaw, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS April 28, 2014
[images / Christian Wardlaw / New York Daily News http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/7.2116001.1398695874!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_1200/2014-nissan-leaf-front.jpg 2014 nissan leaf front http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/7.2116004.1398696064!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_1200/2014-nissan-leaf-charging.jpg The Leaf charges its lithium-ion battery through a charging port in its nose http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/7.2116012.1398696283!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_1200/2014-nissan-leaf-dashboard.jpg Leaf doesn't get different for the sake of being different. It has a remarkably normal dashboard setup http://static1.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/7.2116014.1398696344!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_970/2014-nissan-leaf-rear-seat.jpg 2014 nissan leaf rear seat - The rear seats are position up above the battery, giving passengers a great view ] People with predictable driving patterns and who want a zero-emission vehicle are likely to love the Nissan Leaf, a roomy electric family car that serves perfectly well until life throws a curve ball. Then, you’ve got a problem. The Nissan Leaf makes for a pretty good second car. Ultimately, I decided that I didn’t want to chance it. While I was test-driving the 2014 Nissan Leaf, my family decided to visit Disneyland, which is 70.25 miles away from our home. I wasn’t worried about charging the Leaf while we Yo-Ho’d our way through Pirates of the Caribbean, because earlier this year the self-proclaimed Happiest Place on Earth installed 20 charging stations in its main parking structure. And I was only moderately concerned about making it to our destination given the Leaf’s 84-mile range. No, the deal killer was that I didn’t want to take the shortest-distance 70.25-mile route through downtown Los Angeles and south on Interstate 5 because I wanted to skip the brunt of the mid-week morning traffic rush by using carpool lanes. From my neck of the L.A. woods, carpool lanes are available only on the I-405 freeway, adding mileage to the trip and, by extension, meaning the Leaf’s battery would probably die before making it to the House of Mouse. Instead, we drove a good-for-20-mpg minivan to Anaheim. This situation exemplifies the limitations of living with an electric vehicle. Ask Nissan, and the automaker will tell you that most Americans drive fewer than 33 miles per day, a distance the 2014 Leaf easily travels. But for any trip outside of the daily norm, you need to perform serious advance planning or you need to drive a different vehicle. An EV is, at best, a second car, but as second cars go, the Nissan Leaf is a pretty good one. Like lots of people, my kindergartener was curious about the Nissan Leaf and the charging cord running from its nose to an electrical outlet on our porch. I whipped out my smartphone and explained that an electric car has a battery just like my phone, and that when that battery gets low it needs to be plugged in, just like my phone. This child of a digital age immediately understood: “So its like a big phone with wheels and seats for people.” Yep. Basically, the Nissan Leaf has a large and powerful lithium-ion battery installed under the passenger compartment and it provides the juice for an electric motor that makes 107 horsepower and 187 lb.-ft. of torque. That might not sound like much, but the power is available the moment you step on the accelerator pedal. There’s no waiting like there is with a gasoline engine, which needs to rev before it can produce maximum horsepower and torque. As a result, a Nissan Leaf feels pretty quick, especially if you shut off the car’s Eco driving mode and totally transform the car’s personality. An EV is, at best, a second car, but as second cars go, the Nissan Leaf is a pretty good one. Let me explain. With the Eco mode engaged, the Leaf assumes that you want to prolong battery life as much as possible, so acceleration is slow and maintaining speed requires more deliberate effort, like pedaling a bicycle into a headwind or paddling a canoe against a river’s current. Turn the Eco mode off using the handy button on the steering wheel, and the Leaf’s demeanor instantly changes. It feels much more powerful, it’s quicker to respond to the driver’s right foot, and it’s much easier to take advantage of gaps in traffic. Think of pedaling with the wind or paddling with the current. Of course, there is a trade-off, and that trade-off is that you sacrifice driving range for livelier performance. According to the Leaf’s trip computer, I burned through 53 miles of range over the course of a 50-mile test loop, not surprising considering that I kept cycling between Normal and Eco driving modes and that the loop included nearly 1,000 feet of elevation change. When the Leaf’s battery starts getting low, it is time to find a source of electricity. That’s easier today than it was when the Leaf first went on sale in 2011. Back then, during the electric car olden days, there were just a few hundred public charging stations nationwide. Now there are 13,000, and that number is growing. Anyway, if you’re a good distance from home and your Leaf is running out of power, the standard CarWings technology can help you find a local charging station and quickly program the navigation system to take you there. If you’ve got a Leaf with the optional Quick Charge port, you can replenish the battery to 80 percent capacity in just 20 minutes using a public DC Fast Charger. If your Leaf doesn’t have this option, it takes hours rather than minutes. At least there’s little compromise when it comes to the Leaf’s functionality. This electric car ain’t pretty, but it sure is functional: a roomy and comfortable 5-door hatchback with space for five people. The stadium-style seating is mounted high over the battery, providing an excellent view out. In the back seat, the Leaf supplies plenty of legroom and great thigh support, but space for feet is snug. Trunk room is remarkably generous at 23.6 cu.-ft., more than any full-size sedan. Unlike most hatchbacks, though, the Leaf’s cargo area doesn’t double when folding the rear seat, supplying just 30 cu.-ft. of maximum space. The cabin is refined, too. Hard plastic is the rule, but texture and gloss levels don’t make the Leaf look or feel cheap. Eco-conscious buyers will note that the Leaf SV model’s seats are wrapped in cloth partially made of recycled material; my SL test car had leather for a premium look and feel. Nissan skips being different for the sake of doing so, arranging the Leaf’s controls in conventional fashion except for the unconventional transmission selector. By now, you might be wondering what all this electric green goodness might cost. Where I live, dealers are still selling 2013 Leaf models, and offering no-interest financing for 72 months plus a $2,500 rebate. That’s on top of the $7,500 federal income tax credit and the $2,500 California electric vehicle purchase rebate, meaning I could park a loaded Leaf SL in my driveway for $24,240. That’s thousands of dollars less than the average American spends on a new set of wheels, and with that no-interest loan deal, the payment would be less than $340 per month. Get the less expensive Leaf SV, and the payment drops to under $300 per month. Given the deals and a growing network of public charging stations, the Nissan Leaf makes increasingly good sense. If you’ve got a routine schedule and you’re thinking about getting a second car for commuting and errand running, that is. 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