A MAN who purchased the UK’s cheapest electrical vehicle and drove it until it died said the range is half of other motors.
Rory picked up the Nissan Leaf from AutoTrader before taking it out for a range test.
youtubeThe UK’s cheapest EV was put to the test[/caption]
youtubeRory found it had a lot less miles to a full charge than other EVs[/caption]
youtubeWhen he started up the engine it had 57 miles[/caption]
He found it didn’t have as many miles in a full battery as other EVs – and he even ended up stranded at a junction when it ran out of juice.
Starting up the engine, the dashboard said it had 57 miles available.
Rory explained in a YoutTube video that the motor had two driving modes available.
One was D – which is regular – and the other was eco mode.
Switching into eco to give it as much range as possible, Rory was given a little five mile bump.
During the test, Rory only drove in a built-up areas rather than on the motorway to ensure it was done fairly.
Unsurprisingly, any driver using the air con or heating in the Leaf would see their miles drop.
However, they dropped by a whopping 14 – which could be the difference between making your destination and not.
Rory said: “You’re going to have avoid using air con or heat in this type of car as much as possible.”
As soon as the car had only 20 miles left, it gave a warning to recharge and another when it dropped to 10.
And once there was only six miles of charge left, the dashboard no longer showed the range.
At 65 miles, the Leaf started to lose power and at 66 miles it died.
Despite having nine miles more than it first said it had, it finally put itself into neutral and started to roll backwards.
Rory said: “How far can this Nissan Leaf go is 66 miles dead on a full charge with about a third of the battery health depleted.
“Which I think is a bit of a win because remember the original number was 57 miles and we have gone 9 miles further than the car anticipated.
“Wow I’m so happy that I wasn’t on the road when that happened.”
youtubeOnce the car had only six miles left, the dashboard stopped showing mileage[/caption]