A worthy first EV? 5 Reasons Nissan LEAF is still worth it

When Nissan Philippines launched the Nissan LEAF, it wanted to showcase the power to clean mobility to the local market.

It is a popular electric vehicle (EV) in other markets as the Nissan LEAF has sold more than 600,000 units worldwide, based on figures from mid-2022, since the model launch in late 2010. 

However, in 2023 it's now facing strong competition from the likes of the South Koreans and the Chinese, who are bringing more affordable and technologically advanced vehicles to the local market. 

These new generation of EVs have better range and shorter charging times and better fit with the predominantly Type 2 equipped charging stations across Metro Manila and other parts of the country. 

Despite strong competition, here are five reasons why you still consider getting the Nissan LEAF as your first EV and why it's still worth it. 

Silent operation and instant torque

Like many other EVs, the Nissan LEAF is dead quiet regarding its operations. When you first turn on the vehicle, you won't hear a thing; you will only hear the air conditioning system spurring into life. It's a new level of silence you will likely not encounter with gasoline or diesel-powered cars.

The Nissan LEAF feels like a turbocharged vehicle but without lag. When you floor the accelerator pedal, you are instantly met with all 320 Nm of torque that the EV can offer. However, the torque is dialed back at higher speeds. The EV, after all, has 150 PS available, making it fast enough to have fun but not enough to get you into serious trouble. 

Decent range

Range anxiety is the main worry for those wanting to buy an EV. EVs, after all, it take hours to recharge their batteries versus the few minutes one would take to refuel a gasoline or diesel-powered car. 

But worry not, as the Nissan LEAF has 250km to 300km of a range which is more than enough for your daily commute or trips to the mall or grocery. If the mall or grocery has a wall socket or a charging station, you can even charge the LEAF there. Just make sure you have the correct adapters on hand. 

Note that these figures are estimates and can change depending on how you drive the LEAF and your routes. If there are plenty of downhill segments on your daily commute, you can use them to regain some lost energy with the LEAF’s regenerative braking system. 

What about charging?

Regarding charging, there are two ways: the standard AC charger comes free with the Nissan LEAF, and the other is fast DC charging, which you can do at specific Nissan dealerships.

The AC charger will let you charge the LEAF using any wall socket, but it's slow, so expect charge times to be in hours, depending on your battery percentage and temperature. Our charging times from 45% to 100% took us about 12 hours to complete, so it varies with your remaining battery percentage. 

However, Nissan says that with its available Home Charger (EVSE cable), you can plug your Nissan LEAF into a standard 220V power source with a dedicated socket. The Home Charger (EVSE cable) charges the LEAF for approximately 18.5 hours from low battery indicator to full charge.

On the other hand, DC charging will let you charge the LEAF much faster to 80% in minutes. Depending on the battery percentage, it can take 40 minutes from a 20 to 80% charge or about 7.5 hours to get it to 100% from its low battery indicator warning. 

You can use the DC fast charging at specific Nissan dealerships in the country, specifically those under the Mantrade group. The dealership will let you charge your LEAF there for free, taking some of the cost away from your electricity bill.

Affordable charging costs

Speaking of charging costs, Nissan Philippines said it would cost you about ₱360 to charge the Nissan LEAF from 0 to 100%. Given the current pricing of Meralco as of May 12, 2023, that estimate should now be closer to around ₱460 as it now costs ₱11.48 per kWh, and the Nissan LEAF has a 40kWh battery. 

It's still money saved versus a gasoline or diesel car, which will cost you about ₱2,500 or more to fill up to a full tank.

Unlike internal combustion-engined vehicles, the LEAF does not waste fuel in traffic. All it does is keep the air conditioning and infotainment system running. In our time with the EV, we used around 1% battery while stuck in traffic for an hour.

Advanced safety features

For its price point of ₱1.998,000, the Nissan LEAF benefits from a wide array of safety features. It has the brand’s Nissan Intelligent Mobility suite that gives it access to an Around View Monitor (AVM), Intelligent Cruise Control, blind-spot warning, lane departure warning, rear-cross traffic alert, high-beam assist, automatic emergency braking, Intelligent Lane Intervention, Intelligent Trace Control, Intelligent Driver Alertness, and the e-Pedal.

It also gets standard safety equipment such as front, side, curtain airbags, ABS with EBD, and a tire pressure monitoring system.

E-pedal technology

Want to drive a car with just your right foot? Then the Nissan LEAF has got you covered with its e-Pedal technology. It lets you drive the EV with just the accelerator.

It works like a standard pedal where when you push it down, the car begins to move forward and accelerate, but once you slowly let go, regenerative braking comes in and slows the vehicle down. The regenerative braking is intuitive enough to bring the car to a complete stop just by lifting your foot off the accelerator. 

It takes some time to get used to, but once you get it, you will be happy it's there and actively search for it in other cars. The e-Pedal makes driving much easier as you don’t need to switch between two pedals in traffic or while driving normally. 

Does the Nissan LEAF tick all the right boxes for you?

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