Basic HTML Version
66 | FireFlyz
Car
Review
C
ontrary
to popular
belief, electric vehicles
aren’t a product of
modern times unless
you were referring to
Charlie Chaplin. But
even then it wouldn’t
be accurate, for it came way before that.
In the late 1800s, before the internal
combustion engine made headway and
Henry Ford perfected the assembly line,
electric vehicles were the choice of the
day.
Even back then, proponents of electric
vehicles showed concerns over air pollu-
tion, but gasoline powered cars eventually
became cheaper to build and refuelling
infrastructure were easier to develop.
Electric cars were effectively shut down
except for those times when oil prices
and/or pollution were a worry.
But there wasn’t anything serious
until the Tesla Roadster came along,
followed by the Mitsubishi iMiev. These
,however, were niche vehicles that could
be regarded as an impractical replacement
for the family car. That’s when Nissan’s
Leaf steered in.
LOOKS
A proper compact five-seater in hatchback
guise, the Leaf was introduced in 2010
and looked like no other car. First image
that entered my mind was a mudskipper,
which is by no means an insult; those are
hardy little creatures. The headlights sit
atop the fender and stretches almost to the
windshield; it has a raised profile to direct
airflow around the car. There’s also the
absence of a front grille because there’s
no radiator to cool. But most striking of all
is the bulbous rear end puffed up around
the rear wheels.
Electric Blue
The electric carwas once a dreamfor the future, but now it’s
here.
ZacharyHo
gets a reality check.
POWER
With an electric motor, there is hardly any
loss in energy transmission and although
its 0–100km/h is timed at a relaxed 11.9
seconds, the feeling of acceleration you
get is far from lethargic. The sensation
is similar to the torquey-ness of a turbo
diesel, but is much more refined, and
very much quieter. The Leaf zips very
effortlessly through traffic, which is also a
hazard because few can hear you coming.
That’s one of the reasons Nissan placed
a sound generator that comes on at low
speeds as a safety precaution.
I m a g e s :
Z a c h a r y H o