3 rd Place: 2 020 Nissan Leaf Plus
First mover, now trailing
The Leaf Plus’ easy-driving likability and
admirable over-delivering on interior
quality make for a melancholy realization
that the EV world Nissan once rabbited
ahead of has now swept past it.
Sure, there are still attributes that
trigger approving second glances—
ProPilot Assist is equal to a blood pres-
sure pill in de-stressing the rush-hour
madhouse. Its lane centering accuracy is
the best we’ve seen from a single-camera
system (though it still requires periodic
corrections). Its one-foot-driving e-Pedal
mode sometimes lets you regen to a stop
without touching the brake at all, though
selecting B mode (heavier regen) requires
you to toggle the selector twice.
The car’s brake-by-wire system is smart
enough to compensate for the temporary
absence of regen when the battery is
full, by increasing the grip of the friction
brakes (though after its emergency
braking tests, associate road test editor
Erick Ayapana jotted, “Lots of dive, long
pedal travel, and typically numb brake
feel”). And its cargo space is the best of
the bunch.
But there are elephants in the
room. Nissan is still clinging to its
CHAdeMO-type plug, which is now a real
disadvantage (and complicates the lives
of other EV drivers) as CCS plugs have
won this war. And its battery is cooled by
stirred air, which is today’s equivalent of
drum brakes or a three-speed automatic.
During our day of track testing, road
test editor Chris Walton wrote about
the Leaf Plus’ figure-eight performance:
“Its ABS can trigger emergency braking
(where it remains on, even after my foot
is not). It’s hard to get it right with so littlepedal feel. Its steering isn’t light, but it
has no feel whatsoever. With traction
control off, I managed to spin one of the
tires on each of the skidpad exits.”
As car enthusiasts, we want to know the
personality of any car’s performance at its
limit. But the Leaf Plus is bred for those
who don’t care about such things, who
are indifferent to handling nuances and
only care about getting to point B. Sadly,
the Nissan’s 215-mile range is a Band-Aid
two sizes too small. One day, I needed to
make a round trip to Palm Springs and
minimize my recharging time in order to
hurry back. I was happy I was in the Niro
and not the Leaf Plus.THE NISSAN LEAF IS BRED FOR THOSE WHO DON’T CARE
ABOUT LIMIT PERFORMANCE OR HANDLING NUANCES.
The Leaf’s more powerful motor compensates for added weight and
benefits higher-speed acceleration. The rear seats are nicely appointed.46 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020