Nissan Leaf has plenty of surge for me

I'm not a car guy.

People ask me what kind of car have you got? And I answer a black one. That's about the extent of my
"Wheels" knowledge.
 
My first car was a 2nd-hand Morris 1000, which got me across town and back and that's all I ask even
today. That's good, because it's all the Leaf delivers. Back and forth across town.

3 good things:

- It's got a surge, nice for zipping in and out of traffic going up and down Mount Pleasant or even the
DVP.

 - Plenty of stretch-out space inside.
 
- When it's parked, people want to know what-on-earth is that? There's big curiousity and it's fun to answer questions.
  
3 not-so-good things:
 
 - The short range scares me. I'd have to carefully plan a Saturday morning outing, even to a GTA golf
course.
 
- The silence takes a while to get used to, although I suppose a Rolls-Royce drives just as quietly.
 
- The instrument panel is confusing and I got lost on the GPS.

Michael Cooke.
Editor, Toronto Star

 

Comments

[volt owner]

why would 350 miles of range scare you?

[George Love My Leaf]

Got my leaf in Vancouver in mid-December. Approaching 12,000km already. My daily work commute is approx 120km round trip (I live in Langley, work in North Vancouver). I have the option of plugging in (120v charging only) at work but I don't always do it. I don't need to but if I know I've got to drive somewhere that evening or it's super-cold and I want to blast the heat all the way during my drive, I'll plug in for sure, just to top up. "Range anxiety" ended after about 2 months: as you get experience and realize it's capabilities and get used to thinking/planning a little about your drives automatically, the range anxiety disappears. I used to get far more those days stuck in traffic with my gas gauge near empty. The Leaf just sits in traffic and uses next to no power when not moving.