Green electric pulse

Nissan's Leaf has stylish looks that complement its inner pollution-free beauty. Photo / Jacqui Madelin

The first wave of electric cars is arriving - with Nissan pitching this Leaf as the real-world alternative.

What's new
Leaf was designed from the ground up as an electric car, using a new platform and conventional MacPherson strut front and torsion beam rear suspension. Its Ford Focus-sized body carries five seats, a 330-litre boot and the usual suite of ABS, ESP, six airbags, rear view camera, air con and cruise control. Plus 192 batteries driving the front wheels via a single reduction gear with 280Nm of torque from zero to 2730rpm, and 80kW at 2730-9800rpm. Plug into a household socket to recharge it, with range extended by regenerative braking, and in our test car a ($520) roof-mounted solar panel helping power ancillaries like the radio.

The company line
Toyota's Prius uses nickel metal hydride batteries as they're cheaper and reliable. But the Lithium-ion batteries Nissan favours have higher specific energy, which is why they're popular for portable electronic devices. Their thinner, squarer cells store more energy than cylindrical equivalents.

The Li-ion-powered Leaf goes on sale in New Zealand from January, with price yet to be confirmed.

What we say
This is a conventional family hatch with stylish good looks, pollution-free running and cheap refuelling.

Nissan makes it easy to use - you can ignore the tech and just get on with it, or watch your range rise and fall as you use or regenerate power. Also, check how using the climate control will affect it, and watch digital trees form on the instrument panel when you drive frugally, or die back when you don't.

You can pretty much ignore the range during daily driving. My Leaf showed 140km on pick-up but couldn't have gone over 120 by the time I returned it (the difference caused by vigorous throttle application to enjoy the electric motor's surge).

The downside is the 12-hour full-charge time on a household socket, though given few folk commute further than 50km, that's unlikely to bother a two-car family using the Leaf as their round-town runabout.

We won't get the telematics that lets iPod owners set the time at which charging starts, or set a timer to cool or heat their car before unplugging and drive off with a full charge.

On the road
The 48 batteries are mounted at floor level so centre of gravity is low, which helps impart predictable handling that's average for the class. The ride was comfy over the mix of rural and highway roads we sampled.

Acceleration is impressively brisk from rest and that makes this car a delightful around-town proposition.

I used the select knob like a two-gear box, selecting eco mode for more engine braking at lights and junctions, or when cruising, and opting for drive when brisk acceleration was called for.

Why you'll buy one
You want to send an environmentally friendly message, benefit from ultra-cheap fuel, and still have the convenience of a hatch that's just as useful as conventional competitors. Anyway, if it's your family's second car you wouldn't use it for long trips.

Why you won't
It'll cost too much compared to everyday equivalents - my UK test car retailed at $52,000 including the $10,000 electric-car subsidy.

Sound safety
With cars like Nissan's Leaf set to multiply on our roads, pedestrian safety becomes a concern, highlighted by an American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study that showed pedestrians and cyclists were hit by hybrid cars at intersections twice as often as conventionally powered vehicles. But Nissan has found a real-world solution.

The firm spent years researching a distinctive sound that would alert pedestrians to the car's low-speed approach.

Tsuyoshi Kanuma, who led the Leaf's sound team, had to find a noise loud enough to be effective, not so loud it's annoying, and familiar to the elderly.

The Leaf's distinctive low-speed sound spans the airwaves from 2.5kHz down to 600Hz, audible but not so noisy the car would add noticeably to the overall environment.

Generated by in an-dash synthesiser playing through an engine compartment speaker, the noise can be switched off - but resets to "on" when you restart the car.