Nicola Tesla's Fall Back Car

Toyota and Honda have worked very hard to ruin cars with electric motors for me. Yes the Tesla Roadster is an electric with serious performance and very few compromises, but for every Tesla that I've seen on the road there's at least 1,000 hateful hybrids. Let's put it this way: the Prius is so bad that I've come to hate cars driven by batteries.

Now I've driven the Nissan Leaf. From appearances alone, this is a Prius and Insight competitor. The ungainly curves and goofball headlights make for something only less ugly than the Nissan Juke, but slightly better looking to my eye than the bland hybrids. It reminds me of an unattractive Honda Fit.

Moving on to the interior, there's no surprises here. The materials are cheap but clean, with comfortable seats and well placed pedals and wheel. The shifter is laid out exactly like the Prius', with drive to the left and down, reverse to the left and up. The only difference there being that the park button is better placed on top of the shifter in the Leaf rather than in a different location on the dash as in the Prius.

Here's what seems to make the biggest difference: the Leaf is all electric. There's no gas engine, so unlike the Prius or Insight, no matter how deep you dig into the throttle, the Leaf always remains quiet and composed. In the Prius it feels as though the electric motor is present only long enough for the gas engine to hum to life and deliver you with any expediancy. In the Leaf, there's an immediate response to your input. This difference is on the order of AC/DC versus ABBA.

That acceleration from the Leaf has endeared it to me. Yes, the steering is of the unfortunately numb electric assist variety, and the suspension is designed, apparently, by the same engineers behind the covered wagons that crossed the Oregon Trail. But there's something magical about the instant torque of an electric motor that the Prius and Insight overlooked entirely. Nissan has certainly done their homework here.

Overall, I like the Leaf. I'm terrified of the unpredictable range (maybe 50 miles, maybe 20) generated by lively driving, but for a daily commuter, I'd have no problem trusting the Leaf to get me to and from work without problems. And yes, I hate front wheel drive, but until the Tesla or Fisker Karma are available for less than $30,000 I don't consider them to be viable rear wheel drive electric options.

In short, if you're considering a Prius or Insight, I'd strongly encourage you to drive the all electric Leaf and discover the joy that electric cars can be.

Grade: A-