2011 Nissan Leaf: First Drive Page 5

By Marty Padgett

Marty Padgett

Editorial Director BIO

Marty Padgett is High Gear Media's Editorial Director, overseeing the words that skim across High Gear Media's portfolio of automotive destinations... More

LATEST ARTICLE
2013 Lexus ES 300h Hybrid Bows At 2012 New York Auto Show
Toyota made a vow to build every one of its vehicle lines in hybrid form, and it's adding another... Read More

• #11LEADERBOARD RANK
• 4950ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
• 99COMMENTS POSTED

3,201 views Jul 28, 2010

Follow Marty

Add to circle

2011 Nissan Leaf

Hearts and brains

The heart of the Leaf's drivetrain may be its batteries, but the brain lives in its standard navigation and battery management center. What looks like an ordinary LCD panel for GPS information also displays all the tools drivers will need to help keep a charge in their Leaf, whether at home or on the road.

First, on charging. Nissan will supply owners with a 110-volt port on the Leaf that will recharge the car, eventually, from a household outlet. Plug in an extension cord on an empty Leaf and, well, 22 hours later you'll be something close to fully charged. That's not the plan, though: Nissan has taken pre-orders for the Leaf, specifically, so that it can conduct home assessments to fit garages with the 240-volt connections needed to recharge the Leaf in about eight hours. So far, Nissan's found that all its pre-registered Leaf fans fit a great pattern: they own their own homes, and have garages where plugging in at night won't pose a problem. That's why, by the end of 2011, Nissan foresees 10,000 charge points capable of doing 8-hour fill-ups will be in place.

In the gleaming bright world of the future, fast-charging 440-volt stations will become more prevalent. By the end of 2011, Nissan expects 250 of these quick-charge ports will refuel Leafs to 80 percent of their battery capacity in under 30 minutes--and as Nissan execs are quick to point out, the average stay at a fast-food joint is roughly 20 minutes.

Most of these points will be known to the Leaf and to its owners via the car's on-screen display, or through their mobile phones. Running alongside the navigation functions embedded into the Leaf is a monitoring system that keeps tabs on how quickly the Leaf is consuming its electricity. Cycling through its displays, owners of the Leaf will be able to see an infographic that shows how far they can get on the car's current state of charge--and when that charge reaches a critical point, the instrument panel and power management center will automatically display the nearest charging points. Those points can be updated dynamically, or at the driver's request through a tap on the LCD screen.

The system has more esoteric functions available for pure EV geeks. Owners will be able to disable climate control, for example--and a page will show them how many more miles they're enabling by saving power. It's not quite as direct as the glowing red and blue gauges on a Ford Fusion Hybrid or a Honda CR-Z, but Nissan says these functions will teach newbie EV drivers to extract the maximum mileage from their new cars.

From the same system, drivers can program the Leaf to recharge when power rates are cheap. The system also will set timers for the car to be pre-warmed or cooled for drivers without consuming battery energy. Instead, the Leaf will tap the grid to bring the car to a comfortable temperature. On top of that, Nissan will offer a heated steering wheel and seats, because it believes those warming sensations are psychologically more important than heating or cooling the entire cabin.

The iPhone generation will be pleased to know that most of these functions can and will be enabled from their magic tricorder devices. Nissan is developing an app that will let drivers ping their car and check on remaining mileage, set timers for charging or to set the timer to kick in the climate controls.