Sunday Drive by Hormazd Sorabjee: Is Nissan’s latest EV worth burning a huge hole in your pocket?

Hope. That’s what Nissan is running on right now in India. After the monumental flop of the Kicks SUV, which was launched when the Indian car market started going pear-shaped, all Nissan can do until the consumer’s appetite to buy cars improves is to regroup and hope for a better future. And that future for many carmakers, including Nissan, is electric.

The truth is that, in India it will take a decade or two before electric motors and batteries replace the engine and fuel that drives your car, but Nissan isn’t waiting that long and has shoved its stake in a highly-charged ground with the all-electric Leaf.

Leading the charge

With the Leaf, Nissan will join a growing clutch of automakers looking for a first-mover advantage in the nascent Indian electric vehicle (EV) market. Right now, the number of electric cars sold is not even a rounding error of total car sales, but with tax breaks, regulations and government directives tilting sharply in favour of EVs, the time to enter the race is now.

Globally, Nissan entered the EV race almost a decade ago with the pioneering Leaf, which today is the world’s largest selling electric car. And whilst most automakers are still struggling to launch their first mainstream all-electric cars, the Leaf has gone through an entire life cycle and is now in its second generation, which indicates how far ahead in the race Nissan is.

It’s the latest, second generation Leaf that Nissan plans to launch in India around Diwali this year and that’s what I briefly drove on a hot, humid day in Delhi.

First things first. What’s the state of charge of the battery? How far is the closest charging station? Anxious questions any EV driver will ask. You can’t escape the pangs of ‘range anxiety’ seeded by the fear of running out of charge in the middle of nowhere. Which is why we didn’t stray too far from civilisation (if you can call the urban jungle of Gurugram that).

Assault – and battery

The Leaf’s 40 Kwh battery when fully topped is good for a ‘claimed’ 240km. In reality, that figure drastically drops depending on how you drive it. And in my brief test, which included lots of hard acceleration and very little use of the battery charge saving ‘Eco’ mode, we used about 70 per cent of the charge in just 87km. You do the math now!

Fast charging points are few and far between, but a few companies have started offering space for car chargers – like DLF, which let us plug in to its facility at DLF Cyber City to top up the Leaf’s battery. With the thorny issue of charging out of the way, I could get down to my silent, efficient and zero emission drive.

For all practical purposes, the all-electric Leaf is well, a practical car. It can seat five passengers quite comfortably, has decent luggage space and is reasonably well-equipped. Unlike the edgy exterior shape, the interior design is pretty conventional with a high-definition infotainment screen that stands out in a sea of black plastic. EV giveaways are the drive mode selector – a stubby knob instead of a gear lever and all the EV data that comes up on the instrument panel.

Off the line, the Leaf powered by a 150hp electric motor, takes off like a leaf in a gust of wind. Up to 80kph, this is really fast with a strong surge of acceleration that pins you down into the well-contoured seats.

Down to earth

Speed is a bit of an anti-climax because it isn’t accompanied by any aural drama, but you soon come to terms with the soulless driving experience, which at the end of the day is pretty relaxing. Activating the ‘e-pedal’ switch increases the level of regenerative braking, so when you take your foot off the accelerator pedal, it’s like you’ve applied the brakes. This helps recharge the battery and minimises the use of the brake pedal. Good for city driving.

Sadly, the Leaf won’t be come cheap and is expected to cost around ₹40 lakh, which is ridiculously high for what is fundamentally a premium hatchback. Like most EVs, the high cost of batteries accounts for a big proportion of the cost of the car. So unless the government gives huge tax breaks to imported EVs, you’ll have to pay the earth to save the earth.

Hormazd Sorabjee is one of the most senior and much loved auto journalists in India, and is editor of Autocar India

Sunday Drive appears every fortnight

From HT Brunch, July 14, 2019

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