If you've ever lived on a street where one of your neighbors has a noisy car, you'll have been made very aware of its presence every morning as they started it up and went to work.

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Unfortunately, these people never seem to go to work after you, so you're always woken by the loud burble from their exhaust pipes.

This isn't a problem with electric cars, as Nissan has proved with its latest video for the Leaf.

Taking several of them to the "quietest village in Europe", the group of Leafs races around the streets with as little noise as they can muster--so as not to wake the residents up.

Now we admit, there's some artistic license involved here.

Electric cars really are very quiet, and there's great appeal to the speeds that silence lets you attain without sounding like a teenager showing off to their friends.

But screeching tires are loud too, as is the noise of a trash can falling over--both of which, we suspect, might have woken at least a few people up.

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It's likely a few residents would have noticed the general commotion outside, too--not least the flashes of light from a string of cars racing past their windows.

But it's also clear such a pursuit would have been a great deal louder in a regular vehicle. And while automakers like to claim their cars are getting ever more refined, you still can't beat the silence and lack of vibration of an electric drivetrain.

So if you're a teenager trying to sneak out past your curfew, a neighbor wishing to make a quiet exit each morning, or simply a socially-responsible street racer, an electric car like the Leaf could be the vehicle for you...

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