GrumpyCabbie
Active member
I'm a taxi driver in England and presently use a 2009 gen3 Prius as my taxi. I am interested in low and zero emission vehicles and today went for a test drive in the Nissan Leaf to see if it would make a good replacement for the Prius. This is what I found;
The Leaf was just like a normal car to drive, very light and smooth and SO quiet. It was in no way like driving the Prius in EV mode - it was just as quiet but flew. The Leaf goes like the clappers (well taking into account its 105 bhp) and was so much better than the Prius EV mode which gives, under certain conditions, the feeling of what it is like to drive a true electric vehicle.
The test drive was in Halifax, England and I drove the Leaf up and down some very very steep hills, along motorways and in traffic and other than the complete lack of sound it was just like any other car. It has a regen braking system like the Prius which didn't seem to add much to the range, maybe 1 mile going down long steep hills, though turning off the a/c would add a mile or two more!?! One thing I noticed was how quiet the Leaf was compared to the Prius. Road noise is similar but it was quiet in that it didn't whine when on regen braking, there were no hums, clicks or whires when sat in traffic. Just silence.
It didn't have that dreadful artificial noise maker at low speeds though forgot to ask if there was a switch for it. The boot/trunk was larger than I thought, though still smaller than the Prius and the rear leg room was good but rear headroom was not brilliant. I had about an inch to spare above my head when in the rear and I'm 5'11".
I seriously think Toyota UK should pull their finger out with releasing the Plug In Prius as I think the Leaf might have one over on them. When we had finished the test drive the range indicator was about a mile short of what it predicted at the start of the test drive and the distance covered - and as I said above - I gave it some welly up and down some very steep hills. If anyone has been to Halifax they'll know what I mean.
At the end of the test drive the car was put on the fast charger which takes about 30 mins to give it 80% charge.
So would I recommend you book a test drive too? You bet. Do I still love my Prius? Sure, but as David Cameron once said to Tony Blair "You were the future once" and I'm wondering if that's how I now feel about my Prius?
The Leaf was just like a normal car to drive, very light and smooth and SO quiet. It was in no way like driving the Prius in EV mode - it was just as quiet but flew. The Leaf goes like the clappers (well taking into account its 105 bhp) and was so much better than the Prius EV mode which gives, under certain conditions, the feeling of what it is like to drive a true electric vehicle.
The test drive was in Halifax, England and I drove the Leaf up and down some very very steep hills, along motorways and in traffic and other than the complete lack of sound it was just like any other car. It has a regen braking system like the Prius which didn't seem to add much to the range, maybe 1 mile going down long steep hills, though turning off the a/c would add a mile or two more!?! One thing I noticed was how quiet the Leaf was compared to the Prius. Road noise is similar but it was quiet in that it didn't whine when on regen braking, there were no hums, clicks or whires when sat in traffic. Just silence.
It didn't have that dreadful artificial noise maker at low speeds though forgot to ask if there was a switch for it. The boot/trunk was larger than I thought, though still smaller than the Prius and the rear leg room was good but rear headroom was not brilliant. I had about an inch to spare above my head when in the rear and I'm 5'11".
I seriously think Toyota UK should pull their finger out with releasing the Plug In Prius as I think the Leaf might have one over on them. When we had finished the test drive the range indicator was about a mile short of what it predicted at the start of the test drive and the distance covered - and as I said above - I gave it some welly up and down some very steep hills. If anyone has been to Halifax they'll know what I mean.
At the end of the test drive the car was put on the fast charger which takes about 30 mins to give it 80% charge.
So would I recommend you book a test drive too? You bet. Do I still love my Prius? Sure, but as David Cameron once said to Tony Blair "You were the future once" and I'm wondering if that's how I now feel about my Prius?
