The 80kW 275Nm Leaf has a 160km range and goes on sale in the US and Japan next year, and in Europe and perhaps South Africa by 2012. Leaf will be priced to compete with well-equipped C-segment saloons at under R300 000

Based on an all-new platform designed to accommodate newly developed batteries as and when they become available, Leaf boasts a 270kg 48-battery lithium ion power pack capable pf thrusting the car to 100km/h in under 10 seconds and on to a 140km/h maximum speed.

Leaf is the culmination of 17 years of Nissan lithium ion battery technology research that has led to the use of cheaper manganese positive electrodes of its cells.

Leaf's battery pack will not be sold along with the car but leased by the end user. "We believe that's the right strategy, because that way Nissan remains responsible for the longevity and recycling of the batteries, not the customer," said a company spokesperson.

"Bundling the battery in with the car would also add at least £6000 to the price; the battery lease should cost less than £100 a month."

Charging Nissan's Leaf takes eight hours from a normal South African 240v supply while a 400v three-phase charging station will charge up to 80 percent in just 15 minutes via a socket in a cantilevered flap in its bonnet grille.

Leaf brings another allegedly completely emissions-free (if the power station charging the socket is wind or hydro-electrically charged hat is) and affordable family car option to rival Honda's 100 percent clean Insight, Toyota's Prius and GM’s forthcoming direct electric rivals Ampera and Volt .

All sounds so squeaky clean, no? Only problem is you never know where the power to charge the car comes from in the first place. A hydro electric or wind powered socket is one thing, but the power needed from a coal fired station is probably responsible for emitting as much carbon dioxide as an average petrol car just to charge up those batteries...


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