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A New Leaf Turns Over As San Diegans Test Drive Electric Car

Nissan's Leaf car is a compact 5-door hatchback electric car with a driving range of 100 miles in city driving.
Peggy Pico
Nissan's Leaf car is a compact 5-door hatchback electric car with a driving range of 100 miles in city driving.

San Diegans are among some of the first in the country to test drive an all electric car. Anyone with a valid driver’s license can test drive Nissan’s “Leaf” car this weekend at their promotional event at Liberty Station.

Just 20,000 all- electric Nissan Leaf cars will be sold nationwide at its debut sale in December. San Diego is a launch city for the car that has no tailpipe because it uses no gasoline and puts out zero emissions.

Tim Gallagher, a Nissan representative says many of the drivers who showed up at the test drive event on Friday wanted to compare the Leaf’s performance against gas fueled cars.

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“A lot of people need to validate that feels, that it accelerates, that drives, and handles like a real car. And that it has all the features of a real car, with airbags, navigation systems, and back-up cameras -- the Nissan Leaf has all that.”

Sure it does. But the real question is how it feels behind the wheel. I took a short test drive to find out.

Total silence upon ignition was the first thing I noticed about the no-gas, no emissions Leaf car. Acceleration was fast from about zero to 35 miles an hour. At higher speeds it felt like a standard 4 cylinder, with good torque and smooth handling.

Inside, it’s comfortable and roomier than it looks. My co-driver who is 6’3" said he had enough head room in the front seat.

But, like other test drivers, I had what’s called “range anxiety” or worry that this car’s fully charged battery will only take me 100 miles.

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Gallagher says not to worry, because he says about 90 percent of us don’t drive more than 40 miles a day. And by the end of 2011 San Diego will have 4,000- 5,000 charging stations.

“In service stations, anywhere the public will stay for even a small amount of time, in gyms, recreation areas you’ll see a lot of these in the community over the next 12 months.”

Gallagher reassures me again, by telling me that fast charge stations, which will charge a battery up to 80 percent in 25 minutes, are being installed near freeways between San Diego and Los Angeles. Home charge stations will fully charge a battery in about eight hours, while a standard electrical outlet will take 20 hours to charge the car’s battery.

The car comes in four colors, red, blue, white and silver.