Nissan Leaf was a very pleasant surprise

My only experience with electric vehicles up to this point has been
golf carts and streetcars. Not exactly smooth rides as they both start and stop
with a jolt; two speeds, really; stop and go.
So it was with some trepidation that I took at the Nissan Leaf electric
vehicle for a test drive up to York
Mills Rd. and Leslie St. to meet with the folks at the
Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD).
I was more than pleasantly surprised. I’d say it drove just like
a regular car, which is mostly true, but there was one big difference —
the Leaf doesn’t have a transmission, which means no gear changes, just
smooth acceleration. And boy, did it accelerate! Step on the gas and off you
go! Fast! It certainly made my heavy foot happy and it was a breeze to pass
slower moving traffic up the Don
Valley Parkway.
I had a great meeting at BILD and was happy to see my new toy sitting
in the parking lot when I left. BILD, afterall, is on the leading edge of
energy conservation, with solar panels from Pure Energies on their roof and
green energy supplier Bullfrog powering their electrical needs.
Gale Beeby, Real Estate Editor
gbeeby@thestar.ca

Blog www.thestar.blogs.com/galebeeby

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