"The Nissan Leaf is the planet's first mass-market, all-electric vehicle in modern times, and it's a milestone for personal transportation. It's groundbreaking for many of the same reasons the original Toyota Prius was: it's remarkably easy to drive, will carry up to five people with a fair amount of cargo, and is priced to make Nissan the leader in electric cars, out of the starting gate.
It's also a perfect 10 on AllCarsElectric's ratings because it only depends on petroleum for its production, not its daily operation.
There's no internal-combustion in the 2011 Leaf whatsoever. The Leaf sports a battery pack that Nissan says is good for about 100 miles of driving range; the Environmental Protection Agency, in its worst-case testing scenarios, predicts the Leaf's available driving range on a single full charge at 73 miles.
What this means in practical terms, is that the Leaf is a somewhat limited vehicle. Charging stations can be fitted to homes and businesses, but today they make up a fledgling network--and at best, a few stations enable the Leaf to be recharged almost fully in about 30 minutes. For the more common charging systems, it takes about seven hours to top off the Leaf's batteries; on a standard 110-volt outlet, you're looking at more like 22 hours for a 100-mile charge.
It's a spacious, airy vehicle for passengers, and the Leaf provides a standard navigation system that indicates where drivers can find the next charging station. Fairly fully equipped in base form, the Leaf can be upgraded to include a rear spoiler, a cargo cover, and a rearview camera. Its safety has been given top scores by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
There's no comparison to other cars on the market, not yet. The 2011 Chevy Volt backs up its 40-mile driving range with an internal-combustion engine, and the 2012 Ford Focus Electric isn't on the market yet. The Leaf is a massive experiment on Nissan's part to pitch low carbon footprint driving to a set of owners who can live with 100 miles of driving range on a per-charge basis. For those early adopters, the Leaf is the most advanced, greenest car on the planet.
For an in-depth review of styling, utility, safety and features, see TheCarConnection's full review of the 2011 Nissan Leaf."
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