As automakers launch next-gen versions of their battery-electric vehicles, or all new versions entirely they are slowly breaking down many of the old misconceptions that held EV sales at bay.
One of the biggest challenges early on with EVs was a limited driving range on a single charge. It was hard to convince people to get rid of their gas-powered vehicles if you could only drive about 160 kilometres (or 100 miles) before having to stop and recharge again. But many of the EV models available in 2020 can now offer driving ranges that are becoming more and more comparable to their gas counterparts.
When the Nissan Leaf first debuted less than a decade ago, it offered about 130 KMs of range in ideal driving conditions. When Nissan launched their 2nd generation Nissan Leaf in 2018, they increased the battery along with improving the design and with it increased the range to 240 kilometres (150 miles). That was better, but still quite challenging for most who would be interested in switching over to electric. Nissan said a longer range version would soon follow and that came in the form of the Nissan Leaf Plus with a 62 kWh battery pack and a posted range of 363 kilometres (225 miles). Now we are getting into reliable territory – but that’s just the posted range. As with gas-powered vehicles and fuel economy numbers, they can be either improved or worsened by a number of factors. So with early June weather providing ideal EV conditions for maximum range, I decided to test out a Nissan Leaf Plus to see if I could indeed drive more than the posted range.
The goal was 450 kilometres (280 miles) or an increase of 25% over posted. Did I make it? Well, I documented the experiment in a video which is posted to my You Tube Channel, but can also be seen below:
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