What it’s like driving a Nissan LEAF

[ruimegas]

What it’s like driving a Nissan LEAF

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"The first thing you need to know is that driving a Nissan LEAF is almost exactly like driving any other car. The most important difference between driving a Nissan LEAF and any other car is planning. You have to think out how much driving you’re going to be doing on a given day, and figure out how much juice the car will need. And that takes some practice, because the Nissan LEAF is much, much more sensitive to how you drive than a gasoline-powered car. Let’s say you turn on your Nissan LEAF, and the display shows you have 82 miles of charge in regular Drive mode. That will probably be 90 miles in Economy mode. But driving at expressway speeds, driving in very cold or very hot weather, and using the heater or A/C all reduce your mileage significantly. So if a good part of my day’s driving is on Atlanta’s interstates — I might only get 50 miles of driving before having to recharge. And here in Atlanta, there aren’t yet many public charging stations. So I’ve got to be sure I’ve got enough juice to get home, where I can recharge in my garage.
So driving the Nissan LEAF here in Atlanta right now requires more thought than any of us have ever had to give to how we drive. I think that’s good. I think we all need to be more thoughtful about the amount of energy we use. I think rising gasoline prices will drive home that point to a lot more of us.
Here are some other ways driving a Nissan LEAF is different:
More torque – the time between stepping on the accelerator and feeling the car move is the same amount of time between hitting the light switch and seeing the light come on. It’s instantaneous!
Less noise — I drove a Prius for almost five years before getting my Nissan LEAF. The Nissan LEAF is MUCH quieter.
After “How is driving a Nissan LEAF different?” the question I get the most is, “How do you like it?”
The answer to that is, “ I love it!” It’s comfortable, it has lots of bells and whistles that make it fun to drive, and I love being at the forefront of what I hope will be a technological revolution that helps make our air cleaner and our economy stronger. The Nissan LEAF isn’t for everybody — yet. But if it’s for you now, I hope you’ll follow me and the other Nissan LEAF drivers, and make a Nissan LEAF your next car."

Em: http://www.nissanleafdrivers.com/post/18208775844