Being a fan of two wheeled travel modes - vespas, bikes and, more recently, an electric bike - I expected to appreciate the eco-awesomeness of Nissan's new electric car but I didn't expect to be quite so seduced by it. Completely silent and strangely intuitive, the Leaf beguiled me with it's svelte driving experience.
There were a couple of features that took half a day to get used to; such as the rounded gear shift that glided almost too easily between it's two modes - forward and backward (just like driving a slick go-cart) and then also, the utter soundlessness of this car - a gorgeous development that I think will have such a positive impact on our urban environment as more people go electric but one that calls for extra caution for now around pedestrians who cannot hear you approaching.
Once I'd tethered my phone via bluetooth, the Leaf played whatever I was listening to once the proximity key was activated which made for a cosy cocoon in the rotten, wet weather we Aucklanders have been suffering of late.
The dash display shows how efficiently you are driving by showing the number of kilometres you can still travel according to the battery's charge. A few tricks such as gently braking when moving downhill caused a gain in charge whilst swift acceleration made it drop quickly.
Being able to see this made me more conscious of the power I was using and also curious to try and improve the efficiency with which I was driving - not something I generally think about when driving around town. I think with a bit of practice the number of kilometres eked out of a single charge could be increased significantly.
