Road test: Nissan Leaf e+

If we assume that the average lifespan of a car is around 10 years, it is quite likely that your current car will be the last one you own that is powered by an internal combustion engine and fuelled solely with petrol. An electric future is becoming a reality today, which is how we find ourselves testing out one of the frontrunners of the race, the Nissan Leaf e+.

The increasing market visibility of electric vehicles (EVs) like the Leaf is largely due to rapid improvements in battery production. Just a decade ago, lithium-ion batteries were $1100 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Today they are around $100 per kWh. Bloomberg recently reported that by 2023 car manufacturers would be able to sell EVs for the same price as traditional combustion-engine vehicles. Car manufacturers are driving the growth in sales. Of the world’s 20 largest manufacturers, 18 plan to increase EV production, and at least 10 of them have self-imposed targets to go 100% electric. Already there are 31 different EVs on the market. Next year there will be 58. A number of governments, including Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Ireland and the Netherlands, have already committed to banning sales of internal-combustion engine vehicles by 2030. Without a car manufacturing industry, there’s no question Australia will be going electric too.

So, what does it feel like behind the wheel of a car of the future? Style-wise, the Nissan Leaf e+ looks like any other small to medium-sized car on the market, just with leather seats. Intelligent Mobility provides a 360-degree view of your surroundings – keeping you out of trouble and inside the lines of your parking space at the shops.