The Nissan Leaf vs. a torrential downpour

As a city dweller who relies solely on the public transit system (and her feet) to get everywhere, a chance to cruise around town in a slick ride for an evening is not to be passed up. Upon turning it on, I was revelling in the comfort, quiet and air conditioning of the Nissan Leaf as if it were a luxury-class vehicle (I guess those of us who don't own cars forget the subtle virtues and conveniences of getting around in an automobile).

I left the office parking lot with a smug sense of satisfaction at skipping the rush hour crowds on the subway in the high-30s heat, but the atrocious traffic in Toronto's downtown core gave me a swift reality check; the "brief" errand I wanted to run took the better part of an hour.

As I inched along the streets, I used the time to explore the Leaf. For my first experience driving an electric car, I was duly impressed. I navigated all the dials and functions on the dashboard and the GPS
system without a problem, and I'm speaking in layman's terms here, but the whole set-up was intuitive and easy to grasp. I found ECO mode is a great option for conserving the battery while moving at a snail's pace through the city, and it's a testament to the power the Leaf harnesses because its fierce acceleration, which is palpable in Drive mode, becomes demure in comparison when switched to ECO.

So where does a downtowner go when they have no plans and are handed a car for the evening? One word: IKEA. This may also be a good time to mention that the sky was rapidly progressing from overcast to ominous. Suddenly, the branches of trees were buckling from the forceful winds. I considered postponing my trip to the palace of mass-produced Swedish ingenuity, but figured that a little rain never hurt anyone. Shortly after turning onto Mount Pleasant toward North York, the sky opened up.

The torrential downpour that followed lasted at least 15 minutes. Traffic slowed, and I worried at first that the little Leaf would be swept downstream with the rest of the debris in the street (I think I
saw a couple stray cats and the roof of a shed float by...okay, I exaggerate), but after I adjusted to driving with an approximately 12-inch visibility, the car handled like a champ. It got me steadily,
assuredly and safely to my destination (where I restrained myself from buying too much cute but useless stuff my apartment doesn't actually need).

The Leaf impressed me in some inclement weather - I think next time we should take on the icy streets in winter to see how it fares.

Anna Farber

Cruisin' and hoopin' with the Nissan Leaf

I like the Nissan Leaf. It’s sporty, smooth, quick, and solid.

But I don’t think it’s good for cruising—and I love to cruise. 

Cruising is a relaxation ritual of mine. Occasionally, I wander downtown Toronto in my car on a weekend afternoon, while listening to music. This eases my mind and makes me feel refreshed. I live in Markham, so this kind of cruise can cover 100 kilometers and last a couple hours. I tried cruising with the Leaf. Driving it from Markham to downtown Toronto using the highway took up much of its battery life. This made me frequently worry about not having enough battery power to make it back home. So I didn’t cruise for as long as I normally would, which was dissatisfying. Worrying about the battery defeated my purpose for cruising, which is to relax! So I think I would have to give up my love for cruising if I were to own a Leaf.

On the plus side, I was impressed with the amount of space inside the Leaf. Before driving it, I assumed it is too small for a six-footer like me. I had a preconceived notion that economy cars cannot be spacious. But I was very comfortable inside the car. I drove the Leaf after playing an intense game of basketball. When I got out the car, my long, exercised legs felt fine. A car with little legroom would have stiffened my legs after a workout. There’s plenty of driver legroom inside the Leaf.

So the only negative I see in the Leaf is its battery life.

Baseer Syed
Web Editorial Assistant
Thestar.com

Fathers day volt getaway

I've had the pleasure of using the Chevy Volt for a fathers day weekend getaway with my son Thomas. We are at the Michigan 400 nascar race at Michigan International Speedway. The ride has been smooth and quiet. We were able to get 65 kms on the pure battery charge. We are getting an average of 37 MPG and it is fortunate that there are no plug in stations available ... The technology is great and I look forward to when we can set up an infrastructure that will accommodate electric car technology.

Paul Gallo

Their future looks green

It was a running gag that kept us mildly entertained during the three-hour drive to Kingston for our daughter’s graduation ceremony at Queen’s.

As I packed up the Volt and unplugged the charger from the garage, my wife wondered whether I had made arrangements with the hotel to recharge the battery for the drive home. I replied I had not, partly because borrowing the Star’s Volt for the trip was a game-time decision left up to Bonnie, since she was the one who had worked so long and hard to reach this milestone in her life.

I suggested we could ask when we got there, but would likely just rely on the gas backup for the return trip. To which Bonnie added, in a suitably snooty accent: “Excuse me good sir: We shall be requiring a place to plug in our electric automobile. The concierge has been made aware in advance of our situation.”

We all chuckled as she repeated this line whenever there was a lull in the conversation during our journey. So you can imagine the look on our faces when we pulled into the hotel parking lot. There, right next to the lobby, in front of one of two spots reserved for check-in, was a green vehicle recharging station — just like the ones installed at the Star building for our Green Project.

As I sheepishly confirmed with the front desk that I could leave the Volt plugged in overnight, I started to realize electric cars may have a future after all, beyond the current narrow niche of green fanatics with deep pockets.

Yes, the Volt needed the gas-powered backup to get to and from Kingston, but it was a seamless transition that I never noticed over the sound of the radio. And the fact we got about 50 gas-free kilometers on each leg of the trip helped reduce the overall fuel consumption to 6.0 L/100 km — about half what I would have needed in my own vehicle.

The savings were even more significant on my round-trip 90-km commute to work, and a 200-km round trip to Orillia on the weekend. In both cases, the electric charge took me most of the way (all the way, in fact, on my downhill drive into work), and would greatly reduce my commuting costs.

This despite the fact most of those kilometers were at highway speeds, and a personal driving style that had the Volt’s nanny-like guide spinning in protest over my lead foot and late braking. (I also kept selecting the less-efficient Sport driving mode, which really should be the default, since the Normal mode is annoyingly sluggish.)

At $40,000, I won’t be rushing out to buy a Volt tomorrow. But I can, for the first time, foresee the day when an electric car may make sense for suburban drivers, and be a no-brainer for city dwellers.

Doug Devine
Page Editor

Driving the Chevy Volt to an oil pipeline hearing

It didn’t occur to me, until I was already rolling down the 401 toward London, Ont., that someone might take exception to a reporter driving an electric hybrid car to a hearing on an oil pipeline.

But that was the assignment – covering a National Energy Board hearing in London, to consider Enbridge’s plans to pipe western Canadian oil through Ontario. The Volt was surprisingly normal to drive, once you got over the initial oddity of not having to stick the key in the ignition.

For some reason I’d expected it to be sluggish, but it responded to the accelerator pretty much like a conventional car. I wish I could pinpoint some quirk in the way the car handled, but I can’t.

For a highway trip like Toronto-London, I did wonder what was the point of having an electric car. The battery lasted until the far side of Mississauga. The transition to gasoline-charged electric was seamless, but from Mississauga to London, and then back to Toronto, the Volt was essentially being powered by gasoline, albeit a gasoline engine charging an electric battery.

So if you’re doing mostly highway driving, why bother? You’ll still be driving on gasoline most of the time.

The one quirk I did find was in the touch-screen control panel. Fiddling with the radio dial to try to find a new station, my hand must have brushed a sensitive spot on the screen. All of a sudden it was asking me to set the temperature and ventilation controls.

But that’s just a function of driving the car for the first time. If you drove the car regularly, you’d soon figure out how to deal with that.

The only other problem was finding a parking spot that was far removed from the pipeline hearing room. You wouldn’t want all those oil men seeing you drive up in an electric car.

John Spears