A decadeorsoago,Nissanreleased
theLeaf– thefirstseriousattemptat
anall-electriccar.Laudable,butkindof
ignoredhereuntiltheystartedtorollinas
Japaneseimports.AlthoughNissanhas
solda fewhundrednewcarshere,there
arenowaround10,000onourroads.
Tenyearson,Nissanis uptoitsfourth
generationLeaf.The 2019 versionhas
a diff erentlook– lessanonymous,more
conceptcar– witha fewupgrades
includinga biggerbattery,enoughtodo
about270km.It’spitchedatthesuburban
commuter,ratherthanthosedoing
regularlongdrives,soit’ssmoothand
undemandingtodrive.Thisis especially
thecasewhenusingthe‘ePedal’,a one-
pedaldrivingmodeforbothaccelerating
andbraking,whichchargesthebattery
andslowsthecarwheneveryoutake
your footoffthe,er,gas.
But– andhere’stheexcitingbit–
it’sthefirstelectriccartocomewith
bi-directionalcharging.Thisis what
proponentsofelectriccarshavebeen
sayingwouldbedoneforyears:charge
upthecarwhenpoweris cheap,thensell
it backtothegridwhenit’sexpensive.
Theoretically,youcouldevenchargeup
yourcarusingsolarpanelsduringtheday,
thenpoweryourhousewithit atnight.
Thatit comesinatsomethinglikea
thirdofthepriceofmany,moreluxurious,
electriccarsis also remarkable.
NissanLeaf
nissan.co.nz
Battery packed
Anewelectriccarcapable
of feeding the grid.
Aboveandleft—
Designedforthe
suburbancommuter,
thenewNissanLeaf
hasa sleekerlookand
one-pedal driving.
D:13 IN TRANSIT
Text
Simon-Farrell Green
Photography
Sam Hartnett
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