The Nissan Leaf

The Nissan Leaf is the bestselling electric car in the worldwide, but is always more popular in some regions than others. The success of the electric movement relates to which cultures are most environmentally conscious, who understand and appreciate that their daily consumption choices matter-that each of us shape the world we live in. Thankfully, the efficiency, reliability, and affordability of the Leaf has increased the market for new developments of other electric cars in the bid for popularity and profits which hopefully will increase positive options for consumers. 

It’s Electric-Boggie Woggie Woggie

The Nissan Leaf has taken the car market by storm since its unassuming release in 2010 in America and Japan. The Leaf’s structure is “it's a five-door, five-seat hatchback which sits in the compact class, next to conventionally-powered rivals like the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic” (Gordon-Bloomfield). The competitive nature of the car is its large improvements over the first round of electric cars in the 21st century. After all the Leaf;

It uses a 24 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, which feeds power to an 80 kilowatt (110-horsepower) and 210 pound-foot electric motor. Official performance data is hard to come by, but the benchmark 0-60mph sprint has been variously recorded between 10 and 12 seconds, and top speed is around 90 mph. Official EPA range is 84 miles for the 2015 car, and 114 MPGe. Pricing starts at $29,860 for the 2015 Leaf, including a mandatory $850 delivery fee. (Gordon-Bloomfield)

In the past electric cars were found uncompetitive because they had to be charged too much, therefore were unable to meet the demands of consumers. However, the Leaf has been designed to travel over 100 miles before recharging. Expert review on The Car Connection, gives the Nissan Leaf a 7.4 out of ten due to the balance of performance, comfort, fuel economy, etc. They found the likes to be “No emission, ever; Futuristic, if polarizing, design; Calm, smooth quiet on the road. [Dislikes] Cold weather cuts range; Driving experience is remote; Riders in the rear sit knees-up” (Voelcker). Nissan designers have not changed the Leaf much since its release in 2011 (unlike the popular Jaguar), having a strong design at the time. However, “aside from minor feature differences, the only notable change for 2015 is an updated chemistry for its lithium-ion battery that Nissan says tolerates high temperatures much better--those in sun-baked Southwestern desert states, for instance” (Voelcker). The design of the Leaf was created to help conserve energy, and express the spirit of the machine. This relates as;

Leaf's sloping front, with the grille replaced by a central door over the electric charging ports, flanked by bug-eyed headlights that sweep back almost to the base of the windshield. The lamp units have transparent vertical fins sprouting from their tops to channel air around the car to reduce aerodynamic drag. At the back, vertical ribbons of LED taillights flank the tailgate. (Voelcker)

The inside of the Leaf is more conventional, and does not rely on technology heavy interfaces like many new cars do so that it does not draw on the battery. The actual driving experience of the electric car may be one of the most different features of the leaf, and may be why some people would not drive electric-it changes the feel of driving, and the feel of having power. Without the gurgle guzzle of gas exploding in the engine, there is definitely a different feel;

A 2015 Nissan Leaf drives and operates just like a normal car, though many controls feel slightly remote, because virtually everything is electrically actuated. Acceleration from 0 to 60 mph is a bit less than 10 seconds, though it's hard to gauge how slow or fast the acceleration is because there's no transmission to shift and the Leaf's electric drive is exceptionally quiet. Top speed of the 3,200-pound car is limited to 90 mph. (Voelcker)

Environmentally Savvy 

However, for those people who do not need that feeling of power which comes at so high a cost gas-wise and environmentally, the Nissan Leaf is a dream come true. One of the most environmentally concerned, Norway “The country is the world leader in electric cars per capita and has just become the fourth country in the world to have 100,000 of them on the roads” (Gibson). This popularity stems from pure love of the environment, of the shrinking snow measurements, and of a desire to do something about it every day. 56-year-old Norwegian teacher Elisabeth Bryn, enjoys her Leaf on the icy streets of Tromso. She expresses with breathless excitement, 

‘It is such a good feeling to drive a clean car. It means I have a clean conscience and it works out cheaper in the long run’…Bryn is clearly shrewd about the numbers and says the entire cost of her car will be recouped within eight years thanks to the tax and fuel savings.” (Gibson). 

To encourage and reward its environmentally savvy population, Norway has created a grid of enticements for their electric lines:

• No purchase taxes

• Exemption from 25% VAT on purchase

• Low annual road tax

• No charges on toll roads or ferries

• Free municipal parking

• Access to bus lanes

• 50% reduction in company car tax

• No VAT on leasing. (Gibson)

It is working. This is one part of the aggressive anti-polluting campaign which Norway has been engaging in for the purpose of helping consumers reshape their economic support structure. This was done through “an aggressive tax policy towards high-polluting cars, while offering zero tax on zero-emission cars. This ‘polluter pays’ policy brought the cost of an electric car into line with a conventionally powered one” (Gibson). Measures such as this have been proposed in the United States in many energy/pollution sectors, but have been met with soul-crushing defeat. 

Without widespread support those on the fringes of positive change have more challenges, which can undermine the effort. In the U.S. electric car owners have been faced with a lack of charging stations. This year Nissan has created a “No Charge to Charge” program in eleven markets to expand sales and no doubt to compete with the Telsa Model 3 (Lienert;Crothers). However that is a private initiative while the Norway initiative in public, for as they see it “According to the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association, even if all three million cars on the country's roads were electric, they would suck up just 5-6% of the annual hydro power electricity production” (Gibson). Also, Norway has invested in many rapid charging stations which can bring the Leaf up to 80% charge in 30 min-which has begun to appear in the United States as well to compete (Brown). Setting a new global example, “It helps that Norway is also the biggest oil producer in Western Europe and the world's third largest exporter of natural gas. In other words, Norway is rich enough to subsidise its electric car lifestyle” (Gibson). This type of approach may be one of the reasons Norway so consistently ranks high on the global happiness index. After all, sustainability makes so much sense that those who are somewhat forced into unhealthy purchasing choices in America cannot help but feel frustrated and trapped by their “free market”. 

Under Pressure

The success of the Nissan Leaf has inflated the market for other electric cars to compete, and the looming specter of the 2017 release of the Tesla Model 3 appears to be already affecting the Leaf community;

Despite introducing an upgraded battery pack to boost the range of Nissan’s popular pure electric (the world’s best-selling electric car) to 107 EPA-rated miles, sales are plummeting this year. ‘We were expecting that the new 30 kWh pack…would help erase its poor sales performance in the US in 2015…but as it turns out, Nissan’s Leaf sales are still in free-fall in the US and the Tesla Model 3 could have something to do with it,’ wrote electrek this past week. (Crothers)

While this may be stressful for the Leaf community, it is a good sign of the growing demand for electric cars. When a tipping point occurs, and enough Western consumers realize their car could pay for itself, and they could be freed from fear of the rising cost of gas while helping the environment electric cars could become the norm. After all, taxi companies quickly realized they could massively increase their profits through investing in a fleet of Leafs;

At the 2016 Madrid Motor Show, Nissan and taxi company Ciudad del Taxi announced an order of 110 Leaf taxis for service in the Spanish capital. This is the largest fleet order for electric taxis so far, according to Nissan. It will also put Madrid in contention with Amsterdam—which has around 100 Leaf taxis in operation—for the world's largest fleet of the vehicles. (Edelstien)

There is a good chance that this trend will take off all over Europe, with the sustainable reasoning eventually trickling down to the United States. The new 30-kilowatt-hour battery pack introduced into the Leaf which allows it to run for 100 miles is the improvement which makes this expansion possible. After all, issues of sustainability in America appear as a political paradigm rather than a common sense one. This was seen when “New York studied electrification under the administration of previous mayor Michael Bloomberg, but the effort seems to have lost traction under current mayor Bill De Blasio” (Edelstien). The relatively common sense approach to seeing that electric cars cut down on smog in a huge city like New York unfortunately get lost in the political rigmarole which so many “leaders” couch their complex motivations in. However, hopefully after this catches on in the U.S. the nation can invest in real public transportation via the magnetic trains.

Conclusion

The bestselling electric car in the world has given way to its own competition with its excellence. The market for electric transportation is expanding slowly, but with the technological and psychological improvements which accompany them it will most likely not be long until gas guzzlers remain a simple symbol of defiance and arrogance.

Works Cited

Brown, Chris. “Auto Focus The EV Experience: Nissan Leaf Drivers Speak Out (Part 1).” Truckinginfo.com, 21 Sep. 2011. Retrieved from: http://www.truckinginfo.com/blog/auto-focus/story/2011/09/the-ev-experience-nissan-leaf-drivers-speak-out-part-1.aspx

Crothers, Brooke. “The Tesla Model 3 Effect: Nissan Leaf First Victim?” Forbes, 5 Jun. 2016. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/brookecrothers/2016/06/05/the-tesla-model-3-effect-nissan-leaf-first-victim/#660efea45dc4

Edelstein, Stephen. “Madrid to get world's largest electric taxi fleet of Nissan Leafs.” Greencarreports.com, 20 May 2016. Retrieved from: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1104075_madrid-to-get-worlds-largest-electric-taxi-fleet-of-nissan-leafs

Gordon-Bloomfield, Nikki. “Nissan Leaf Electric Car: Ultimate Guide, What You Need To Know.” Greencarreports.com, 22 Jun. 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1047669_nissan-leaf-electric-car-ultimate-guide-what-you-need-to-know

Gibson, Chris. “Why do they love electric cars in the Arctic Circle?” BBC, 10 Jun. 2016. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36402942

Lienert, Anita. “2016 Nissan Leaf Buyers Offered ‘No Charge To Charge’ in 11 New Markets.” Edmunds.com, 5 July 2016. Retrieved from: http://www.edmunds.com/car-news/2016-nissan-leaf-buyers-offered-no-charge-to-charge-in-11-new-markets.html

Voelcker, John. “2015 Nissan Leaf Review.” The Car Connection, 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.thecarconnection.com/overview/nissan_leaf_2015