After our quick drive of a 2013 Nissan Leaf before the New York Auto Show in late March, we were finally able to spend some extended time with the updated electric car outside Nashville.
Our initial impressions remain the same: The Leaf is a perfectly normal, competent compact five-door hatchback that happens to run on a battery-electric powertrain.
Its limited range of 75 miles aside--that's 15 percent higher than comparable ratings from earlier years, but the calculations are complex--the Leaf will do anything that any other compact hatchback will...
Four-fifths U.S.-made
By this point, many readers will likely know that the Leaf is now built in Tennessee, as are the lithium-ion cells in its battery pack. By value, more than four-fifths of the Leaf electric car is now made in the U.S.
...the Nissan Leaf remains by far the highest-volume battery electric car in the world. Nissan has now sold more than 60,000 globally since late 2010.
With plants in Japan, the U.S., and the U.K. cranking out Leafs, that number will likely cross 100,000 by
the end of this year.
The Nissan Leaf is, in effect, the world's default electric car.
