Pure-electric car isn’t put off by a bit of snow
By Gavin Conway on January 31, 2012 9:26 AM
If you live in Los Angeles or, indeed, London, then extreme weather really isn’t really an issue. Running a Nissan LEAF pure-electric car in such climes doesn’t represent much of a challenge, but spare a thought for those facing a daily commute in a Canadian or Norwegian winter.
Well, the author speaks from experience as an ex-native of Ottawa, Canada’s capital city. Most diplomats posted there receive hardship pay on account of ferocious winters when temperatures of 20 below zero are not uncommon (and that’s before factoring in wind chill).
Surely this environment would kill a LEAF stone dead, or at least reduce range so that you’d measure it in feet instead of miles? Well, Nissan would like to assure us that its pure-electric isn’t afraid of plunging mercury and a few pesky snow flakes. To that end, the company has produced a video (below) where LEAFs are put through their paces in snowy Hokkaido in the north of Japan.
Interesting stuff – we learn from Chief Vehicle Engineer Hidetoshi Kadota that the capacity of the battery is unchanged in minus nine or ten degrees Celcius, with the same capacity as it would have at 25 deg C. Unsurprisingly, though, if you throw some Canadian temperature at it, capacity decreases. To combat this, Nissan offers a battery warmer.
He also makes the point that unlike a petrol engine, which produces heat as a byproduct of combustion, the LEAF actually needs to heat fluid to operate the cabin heater, hence the big drain on the battery. Apparently, Nissan is working on more efficient heating solutions so that Canadians and Norwegians can go that bit further on a charge.
The video also shows that the LEAF looks like remarkably good fun to throw around on snow covered roads. And yes, we regret to say that a few traffic cones were injured in the making of this video.
This isn’t this week’s YouTues video, by the way – we’ll be publishing our suitably outlandish find later today.