Nissan Leaf test drive

[bennelson]

Hi everyone!

I went to Chicago yesteday to test drive a Nissan Leaf!



It was a pretty cool event. I actually got behind the wheel. It wasn't a long driving course, but it was beautiful weather for an outdoor event, and they let me take lots of photos and video.

I'll get some video up tomorrow, but you can check out my blog entry right now if you want.
Nissan Test Drive – Chicago

I also saw the EV charging stations at Soldier Field.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG3UCzINz6Q

You can see the photos I took at: MobileMe Gallery

And since I was in Chicago, I stopped by the Tesla store as well!


It was a fun day, but WAY too much driving!


EDIT:
Here's the main test drive video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS7X7jXt6ho

[gone-ot]

...did it "leaf" you feeling "charged"? (wink,wink)

[bennelson]

Ack! If my wife was listening to this, she would force you to put $2 in a jar as "pun"-ishment!

Actually, it WAS a fun day and I did leave feeling great knowing that EVs are going mainstream again!

[gone-ot]

Originally Posted by bennelson

Ack! If my wife was listening to this, she would force you to put $2 in a jar as "pun"-ishment!

...at our house it was 25¢-per-swear word...guess *how* our retirement fund is funded (double pun intended).

[bennelson]

Here's the actual test drive video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS7X7jXt6ho

(I posted it in the thread opener, for any new viewers as well.)

[bennelson]

Here's another video, this time a short interview with one of the Leaf staff at the event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH77btVH628

[euromodder]

Nice videos, even though they didn't let you go very far with the Leaf.


Ben, the headrest position was better before you changed it.
The top of the headrest shouldn't be much more than 2" below the top of your skull.
It may not have been a tall guy, just a smart one
Having the headrest sitting too low means it won't help in a collision and you could still end up with whiplash.
Volvo switched to fixed headrest on the front seats, so they can't be adjusted wrongly.

The backrest of the Leaf's front seats seems very low to me, limiting shoulder support..

[bennelson]

The headrest was in the highest position while I was driving the car.
Afterwards, I adjusted it to the lowest position just to see what the range is.

I really only commented on it at all because of the overall feeling of the drivers seat, and I think part of how it felt was because of the headrest being all the way up.

The seat overall was very comfortable. It "squishes" in a nice way.