Nissan charges ahead

This is an event where the company exposes you to all their products including Infiniti and Datsun, and some of their future plans within these brands.

This exposure comes in the form of on site dynamic driving, open area public road driving and presentations in a compact two day format. It gave us the opportunity to drive some of the products coming here in the near future – like the Nissan Leaf full electric hatch and Infiniti QX 80 luxury SUV.

Nissan Leaf

These I will tell you about shortly. But we also got to drive some cars that will probably never see production as in the Nissan Juke R and the Infiniti Emerg-e concept car.

Not to mention a drive in the Nissan Leaf NISMO RC which is a potent and interesting race car, along with a hot lap in the Nissan GT3 spec GT-R in the hands of SA’s own Asleigh Oldfield who recently won the Nissan GT Academy. The bigger news for performance junkies is that Nissan South Africa is doing their homework and is considering bringing the NISMO brand here.

After sampling the NISMO Juke and 370Z, I can only say, hurry up and do it!

We also got to see a production spec Datsun Go that will hit South Africa at the end of next year and will create a stir with its planned below R100 000 market entry. And on the other end of the scale we were shown the all new Infiniti Q50 that is going to go head to head with the big boys like BMW’s 3 Series, Audi’s A4, Merc’s C Class and even more so against Lexus´ IS 350.

We will be reporting on this car extensively in the coming months.

Nissan say the future is in emission free electric cars and autonomous cars that will prevent accidents and loss of life and will forever change the face of motoring. So perhaps the most important aspect is Nissan South Africa is set to create a new kind of stir in the local vehicle market as the Nissan Leaf will go on sale as the country’s first electric vehicle (EV).

Epitomising the brand’s slogan of “Innovation that Excites,” the Nissan Leaf will be making its South African debut at the Johannesburg International Motor Show in October. It will go on sale to the public at the same time.

Nissan Leaf

Having sold over 75 000 units worldwide since its international launch in 2010, the South African launch will pave the way for other EVs to enter the market in the future.

Nissan South Africa managing director Mike Whitfield said the launch of the Nissan Leaf in South Africa would be a ground-breaking event this year.

“It brings about the dawn of a new era of motoring,” Whitfield said. “Nissan is the first brand to explore EV retail in South Africa and we are extremely proud to be able to say we were first.”

The Nissan Leaf has already been impressing South Africans in pilot programs with Eskom – the national electricity supplier – the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA). The outcome of the programs is paving the way forward for the development of the entire new EV industry in South Africa.

With benefits including zero emissions, silent and smooth operation with new driving sensations, home-charging convenience and an advantage in running costs over vehicles with combustion engines, the Nissan Leaf’s launch in South Africa rings true to the Leaf being the only globally accepted, mass-produced EV.

To put some of the projected costs into perspective, the car should sell for around R450 000 with any incentives that might be offered by government being passed onto the consumer and confirmed in time.We were also told that based on current Gauteng rates, R380 worth of electricity will get you as far as R2 400 worth of petrol. That is a huge saving if you are using your car in and around the city or suburbs.

Some other info on the Leaf sees the silhouette of the world’s most popular pure electric vehicle not changing. But as production starts in Europe, the source of our cars, the multi-award winning Leaf has undergone a number of significant engineering enhancements.

The new Nissan Leaf is more agile than before thanks to a comprehensive raft of chassis changes while it will go further on a single charge. The NEDC range has increased from 175 kilometres to 199 kilometres subject to certain conditions and driving style.

The biggest single change made to Leaf is to the powertrain – through changes that result in greater range. In the original car the battery charger and inverter was housed in the luggage area of the car behind the rear seats.

Nissan Leaf NISMO RC

Although comparatively compact, the assembly ran the full width of the trunk. As well as stealing some luggage space it meant a completely flat load floor was impossible to achieve.

The charger and inverter are now in the front of the car and integral with the electric motor itself which not only increases luggage space by 40 litres but also permits a flatter floor than previously when the rear seats are folded.

Although the high response AC synchronous motor develops 80 kW as before, the claimed performance against the clock has barely changed with top speed being down 1 km/h to 144 km/h while the 0-100 km/h sprint is now 11.5 sec, which is 0.4 seconds quicker than before.

Chassis changes have been made to tailor Leaf to Europe’s and, ultimately, SA’s higher average speeds and more demanding roads. The result is a car that’s more engaging to drive and yet is just as comfortable over poor road surfaces.

Significant changes within the cabin include new seats and trim along with other interior changes that include a new foot operated parking brake allowing the space on the centre console previous taken up by the electric parking brake switch to be used for extra storage for a phone or keys. There is also a full complement of safety equipment as standard with front side and curtain airbags as well as ABS, EBD and brake assistance.

The Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) is also standard. The Nissan Leaf gained a full five star EuroNCAP rating on its launch and was the first 100% electric vehicle to gain this safety rating.

Next Wednesday we cover Infiniti and QX80 more specifically in our motoring section.