NY Auto Show pics: Nissan Leaf

By Jeffrey Van Camp April 21, 2011

Nissan’s first electric car, the Nissan Leaf, has been around for a little while now, but it is on full display in two separate booths at the New York International Auto Show this week. We snapped a few pictures of the unit and learned more about the vehicle, which is 100% electric.

The Basics: it gets a 100-mile range on a 9 hour charge. The charging ports, seen above, are located on the very front of the car, seemingly because most charging will occur in your garage overnight. The Leaf is the only EV we’ve seen with a larger “Fast Charge” port as well. We’re told this port will give you an 80 percent charge in about 30 minutes. The unit is front wheel drive and contains 192 chained lithium ion batteries. Interestingly, many of the internal lights, radios, etc are not powered by the many lithium ion batteries that run the car. Instead, a separate battery just for controls is under the hood. The car actually has a small solar panel on its rear that charges this 12 volt instrument battery, which is very similar to a standard gasoline car battery.

For a more thorough look at the Nissan Leaf, check out our full review of the car, which is getting ready to enter its second round of online pre-orders. Last year, the Leaf quickly sold out of its initial 50,000 unit order. These cars should be delivered and on the road by August. If you want a Nissan Leaf, it will run you $32,780. However, representatives were quick to point out that a federal rebate of $7500 is available, putting the actual price around $25,280. Still expensive, but we’re getting there.

The Nissan Leaf was awarded the 2011 World Car of the Year award today, beating out the Audi A8 and BMW 5 Series.

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