The new Leaf has two charging ports with the Level 3 NACS and CCS (with an adapter) on the right front fender and Level 2 CCS on the left.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
It’s one thing to drive an all-electric car in summer or fall temperatures, but quite another to drive it in a Canadian winter. The range will drop, just as it will for a gas-powered vehicle but far more noticeably. And every year, in Canada, winter happens. Especially this year.
When we drove the new Nissan Leaf at its launch near Cobourg, Ont. in Prince Edward County in late October, the temperature was around 7 or 8 degrees Celsius. When I drove it here recently, the temperature was around freezing or just below. My average, realistic range was 415 kilometres when driving at the speed of traffic, while the car is rated for 463 kilometres at the speed limit in warm weather. That’s about an 11-per-cent drop. (I was not able to charge at home, however, so I could not take advantage of the Leaf’s pre-warming abilities for the battery and the cabin, which would have extended my range.)
There are currently three editions, all fitted with a 75-kilowatt-hour battery and all with a standard heat pump. The SV+, which I tested, is the middle of them and starts around $50,000. The lighter S+ has a claimed range of 488 kilometres, while the heavier Platinum+ has a claimed range of 417 kilometres. They all make the same power and torque, and use the same 160-kilowatt electric motor. The difference comes down to weight, larger wheels and additional energy-sapping features.
Mind you, the total variance in weight between the three is less than 29 kilograms. Like most electric cars, the range is generally good enough for almost all drivers but could always be better. A fourth edition, the more basic S, is expected to arrive later this year and will use a smaller 53-kilowatt-hour battery to power a 130-kilowatt motor; it will be less expensive and have a shorter range.
The new Leaf has 214 horsepower and 261 lb-ft of torque.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
The new Leaf is now one of the least expensive electric vehicles on the market, starting at $47,857 including freight, pre-delivery inspection and other fees but before taxes. This competes directly with the Hyundai Kona but comes in above the new Kia EV4 and the Chevrolet Bolt. The SV+ costs $3,000 more and the loaded Platinum+ is almost $5,000 above that.
This all-new third-generation EV is considerably updated to catch up with the competition. It now has NACS charging ability, which means it can be charged at most Tesla superchargers, and it even has two separate charging ports: Level 3 NACS and CCS (with an adapter) on the right front fender and Level 2 CCS on the left. No more searching for outdated CHAdeMO charging stations, which the old Leaf needed. It can charge at up to 150 kilowatts if the Level 3 charger is powerful enough, but the Level 2 port does not lock – anyone can unplug the car while it’s charging slowly.
The cabin is nicely put together, but there are few buttons, which may be an issue for some.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
It’s even caught up to Tesla in that, when your Leaf and your credit card are registered to each other on the MyNissan app, you need only drive up to one of 25,000 compatible Canadian chargers in the Nissan Energy Charge Network and plug in to begin charging – no opening an app or tapping a credit card. The charging station reads the car through the cable and takes it from there. Porsche Canada has just announced a similar, seamless charging process for its electric Macans and new Taycan and Cayenne EVs when using Tesla chargers.
Nissan Canada was so proud of this that it registered its corporate credit card on the test Leaf’s ownership and offered me a free charge to prove the convenience of the system. Except, it didn’t work. Nissan explained later that the card was registered to too many accounts and had been blocked by the bank. It’s too bad I didn’t get to experience Plug & Charge – it’s a worthwhile feature.
The trunk has 566 litres of space behind the rear seats and 1,572 litres when those 60/40 seats are folded flat.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
Looks
The new Leaf is attractive and inoffensive. Every day, somebody admired the Seabreeze Blue colour of the tester, which is a $795 option for two-tone paint. The streamlined shape has an aerodynamic drag co-efficient of 0.26, which is an improvement on the 0.29 of the second generation.
Interior
The cabin is nicely put together and easy to access and exit, with comfortable seats. Both rows are suitably spacious for adults. The lack of buttons was an issue for me, however – I never did figure out how to turn on the radio, except by pressing the voice control on the steering wheel and telling the car to “turn on the radio.” I’m sure any teenager would have no such difficulty.
The back seats of the new Leaf are suitably spacious for adults.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
Performance
Performance was respectable but not exciting – the Leaf is no sports car and there’s no neck-snapping acceleration, even with the Drive Mode set to Sport. It’s not supposed to be, of course.
Technology
First, recognize that the technology of the new Leaf was almost unheard of a decade ago, and especially at its current price-point. That said, the much-vaunted ProPilot driver’s assistance seemed no different from standard lane-keeping and active cruise control, and still needed my hands on the wheel every 10 seconds. The overall system seemed glitchy, too – for example, it told me in several places on Highway 401 that the speed limit was 60 kilometres an hour, when it was actually 110; when I tried to dictate a text message with Apple CarPlay, the radio did not automatically mute – little things like that.
The new Leaf features “e-Step” one-pedal driving, which allows for progressively heavy braking when your foot eases off the throttle pedal, like a golf cart. The level of braking and battery regeneration can be adjusted with steering wheel paddles. Unlike most other makers, however, the Leaf will not actually come to a stop with e-Step and, in fact, will creep forward from a standstill if the brake is not applied. Many other EVs can be switched to creep or not creep. Why not the Leaf?
Cargo
This is a reasonably spacious electric crossover, with 566 litres of space behind the rear seats and 1,572 litres when those 60/40 seats are folded flat. There’s no frunk underneath the hood. A clever area beneath the trunk floor offers some hidden space or can act as a divider between luggage.
A neat way to divide the trunk.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
The verdict
The third-generation Nissan Leaf is a night-and-day improvement over the previous generation. My tester’s software seemed a little glitchy, as did the MyNissan app, but those foibles will surely be worked out soon enough. By then, however, the competition may have newer vehicles to catch up to once more.
Tech specs
Nissan Leaf SV+
- Base price / as tested: $50,093 / $50,888, including freight and pre-delivery inspection, plus fees and tax
- Motor / battery: 160 kilowatt AC motor / 75 kilowatt-hour battery
- Horsepower / torque (lb-ft): 214 / 261
- Drive: Front-wheel drive
- Power consumption / charging capacity: 22.4 kilowatt-hour / 100 kilometres (Observed) / 150 kilowatts
- Curb weight: 1,923 kilograms
- Range (claimed and observed in kilometres): 463 / 415
- Alternatives: Chevrolet Bolt, Kia EV4, Kia Niro EV, Hyundai Kona Electric, Chevrolet Equinox EV, Tesla Model 3
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