In their November issue,
Consumer Reports magazine has published their full test of the Nissan Leaf. While there are no surprises in their comments, there are a few interesting things that were mentioned:
In order to purchase the car they had to fly out to California to buy it, as the Leaf was not being sold on the East Coast at the time. Since it was not practical to drive it back to their Auto Test Center in Connecticut, they had it shipped across the country in a car carrier. Their normal procedure is to put 2000 miles on a new car to break it in before testing. Due to the Leaf's relatively short range and their regular drivers reluctance to push the range envelope, it took much longer than usual to get the 2K miles on the car.
The average range of the Leaf during their testing was 75 miles, with a high of 90 miles and a low of 60 miles during cold weather when the heater was being used. The car averaged 3.15 miles per kWh, or the equivalent of 106 mpg in mixed driving. That gave the Leaf a very low operating cost of 3.5 cents per mile.
A full charge of 22 kWh took about 6 hours using the extra-cost 240-volt charger. Using the standard 120-volt charger it took 16 hours to fully recharge the battery pack. They noted that 22 kWh from the wall socket amounted to 19 kWh into the battery pack, a charging efficiency of 85%. The car's electrical consumption was measured with a rented an on-board data logger.
0-60 mph takes10.3 seconds, passing from 45 to 65 mph takes 6.7 seconds and the quarter mile takes 17.8 seconds. Braking was deemed good with a stopping distance of 136 feet in the dry and 149 feet in the wet. Maximum load for the Leaf is 860 pounds and the car weighs 3,360 pounds, with a weight distribution of 56% front and 44% rear. The turning circle is 37 feet.
What they liked about the car was its running costs, ride, instant power delivery, quietness, access and turning circle. What they didn't like was its limited range, long charging times, high-pitched whine, no telescoping steering wheel and a lack of agility.
They particularly liked the transmission, which received a red dot, their highest rating.