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[BazaJT]

Had a drive in one of those new Nissan Leaf things today.Ugly sort of beggar,eerily quiet though!Little lumpy joystick type affair for selecting which way you want to go,reverse,neutral,forwardand that's it.They say it's got a best range of  200 miles,don't know how slow you have to go to get that far,but it's supposedly limited to 120mph!Even if I got max range I'd still have to stop for a re-charge to visit my daughter in Hampshire.Pop the bonnet and you'll find they've made the motor look like a four pot engine so owners see something that at least looks familiar!Hellishly expensive too!They claim zero emissions,which is true as there are no exhaust fumes,but what of the extra pollution  from  the power stations when everyone plugs their leccy car in for a charge up?I hope they sell by the millions,it'll leave more petrol for my Omega and Jag!!But I'm afraid I won't be a customer.Oh,and the cost of replacement batteries,makes your eyes water!

[TheBoy]

Be aware, with electric cars, if you regularly use more than 50% of the range (thats your range, not claimed range) between charges, you will knacker the batteries really quickly.

[Kevin Wood]

Yep, a very expensive hiding to nothing with current battery technology.

Once fuel cell technology reaches cars it might be different.

[albitz]

I believe the process of battery disposal at the end of their life is about as environmentally unfriendly as its possible to be ?

[omega3000]

Often wondered about these electric bumper cars ... expensive to buy with limited range and pig ugly 

[Abiton]

Damn cheap to re-fuel  though...

[Nick W]

I was recently sent on a course to learn how to safely disable the 415v 3 phase power in the Leaf. This was after I'd had to recover one of the damn things.
The bloke running the course was just back from the Isle of Wight in one of them; to get to South Mimms, he'd had to charge the thing before he left, and stop at home in Guildford overnight. He reckoned the most he'd ever got out of it was 110 miles. Consider that even with the 'fast' charger(which costs about £1200 to install) it would take about 8 hours to recharge. This makes them utterly useless as anything other than a towncar. Plus, you require off street parking so you can plug in the charger.

There is a lot of clever thinking in the car; the powertrain is deliberately sized and shaped like a normal engine as it makes packaging and things like crash testing easier. The Leaf uses a lot of off the shelf Nissan parts; the suspension is lifted directly from another model. It is surprising just how well it drives, there is something deeply impressive about instant, silent torque - it accelerates well, and cruises at sensible motorway speeds.

The electric motor is perfectly suited to vehicular use; in no particular order it is powerful, compact, cheap, reliable, durable, quiet and economical.

But all it actually does is highlight just how crap battery technology still is. If we can't power a smartphone for a couple of days on one charge;  a laptop for 4 hours or a cordless drill for 30 minutes, what chance does a car have?

[omega3000]

Just visited the nissan  showroom ..... £26k for the leaf , i think ill put that on the back boiler for now 

[Dishevelled Den]

Just visited the nissan  showroom ..... £26k for the leaf , i think ill put that on the back boiler for now 

£26k for the leaf

The killer blow for all alternative fuel cars.

[omega3000]

£5k trade in for your old banger if you go electric so just £21k to rustle up , i could imagine a speedy delivery date and a few optional extras thrown in ...wondering how much the leccy meter will spin round charging for 8 hrs