On this chilly Sunday, the Danish Association of EV owners, FDEL, had arranged a day trip through 5 major cities in the country with the new Nissan Leaf, giving the most curious of us a chance to see the car up close before official release.
Image credit: FDEL Facebook invite
I asked Martin Messer Thomsen, driver and press contact at FDEL, about how this came about:
“Whenever Nissan releases a new EV in the country they call us first to give it a try. They appreciate the feedback we can give them in terms of real-world range and they use that information to update their dealers knowledge and website accordingly.”
Martin Messer Thomsen, FDEL test driver of the new Nissan Leaf prior to official release
Now, that is actually a win-win deal. First and foremost for Martin and the other guys at the FDEL home base who get to drive the car for the first time, but also for the rest of us, because it is so important for customers to get an accurate assessment of what the car can actually do in localized conditions.
79% charge — 213 km range
This particular event was the end of 10 days and almost 2,500 km of test driving. The car was hooked up to a computer most of the time to evaluate drivetrain and battery performance. The question that we all ask is of course about range, and what Martin Messer Thomsen could inform at this time was that the car had 37 kWh of available battery capacity at full charge, giving it 160 km (99 miles) range at 110 km/h (68 mph) at an ambient temperature of 0°C. That’s 4.3 km/kWh which corresponds quite well to my own experience with 15,000 miles in the first generation Leaf. According to my own calculations that would give at least 225 km (140 mile) real-world highway range at 20°C. Not bad at all, and of course as the instruments indicated when I checked, the range estimate had gone up because the last few miles were driven in the city.
Unfortunately it was not possible to get a test drive, due to the tight charge-drive schedule, but a couple of minutes in the driver’s seat proved quite comfortable. Having driven the first generation Leaf, I felt instantly at home. All buttons were in the same place, but the dashboard was very much improved, and featured clearer screens with better graphics all round. I had heard the exterior was more pleasant to the eye in real life, and I agree. I must admit that I was not sure I liked the design that much looking at pictures only, but when you walk around it, and step inside it, you kind of feel like yeah, I would actually like to own it.
Nice to see the new Leaf lined up to the old one for comparison
The new Nissan Leaf is expected to go on sale in March, but there is no word yet on availability. The price tag on the 40 kWh version is very competitive and I hope it will enjoy huge success on the Danish market, because this market really needs a new beginning.
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Autonomous Drones for Better Farming
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
