Leaf Size

[Gavin]

Yep...I would get a flat every other year back in the 70's....now? Not in years.

As I've said before....Cell phone + Roadside assistance + limited range = No spare needed.

Now if you go off roading or you are traveling across Canada or parts of the Southwest where the services are few and far between...then yes a spare is needed....but a city commuter should never need a spare.

Gavin

[evnow]

Run flat tires are heavy, less efficient and have lower ride quality and performance. The MINI (real production car) uses them as it has NO spare and most drivers go to traditional tires and a can of run flat. Since the Leaf will have LRR tires it may have a spare, which is just extra weight for a car that only goes less than 100 miles, so why bother. If you have AAA I suggest upgrading to platinum for EV owners as towing will cover the Leaf range at no charge.

Just to repeat - Nissan Leaf comes with free 3 year roadside assistence.

[Bicster]

Just to repeat - Nissan Leaf comes with free 3 year roadside assistence.

Not to mention, with the built-in telematics system it's unlikely you'll even need a cellphone to summon it.

[garygid]

Perhaps tires tend to "fail" much more after 3.05 years (probably not)?

Perhaps they want you to become "dependant" upon their service?

Possibly, they want us to have a good experience, with nothing to complain about.

[Rat]

Back on topic: I saw the Leaf at the show in San Jose right after having driven a Versa rental car the preceding week. I thought the Leaf looked a little bigger, particularly the cargo area. I had felt the Versa was just a little smaller than I wanted, but for a rental it didn't matter. I will have to test drive the Leaf and see the split fold-down rear seats in action before committing to it.

[palmermd]

It is very close to Prius in size.

http://www.nctcog.org/trans/air/program ... _Oct09.pdf



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Has anybody looked closely at this image. It indicates the LEAF has more room than the Prius, but the image say's otherwise. If you open the .pdf file and look at the three images, the first one indicates more headroom. If you look at the black line versus the red line you can see the Prius is just a fraction lower than the Leaf and the Prius front seat is a fraction higher, so driver should have more headroom, but in the rear, the Prius roof-line is lower, but because of the batteries in the LEAF the leaf seat is way higher than the Prius. Far less rear headroom in the LEAF. Also, the rear passenger footwell is much higher in the LEAF due to the battery pack and so the knees are much higher which will feel more cramped. They also show, in the second slide, the Prius seat in the furthest rearward position, which is misleading since you can clearly see the steering wheel and pedals are in the same position as the LEAF, so you should not need the seat that far back in the Prius to match the LEAF. They are not correctly comparing the rear legroom and it seems to me the LEAF has less rear passenger legroom, not more. The Leaf also appears to have less rear passenger headroom and not more. The third slide is cargo room. The LEAF clearly has more cargo volume, but what is the red line that goes up to the back seat headrest? Do the seats not fold down to make the back area flat? Is there a cover for the "well" for cargo in the rear? Its nice having the option of extra depth, but a nice flat cargo area is also nice. From the images I've seen of the LEAF, I've always assumed there was a cover over a hidden cargo well in the back, and that the seats would fold down to create a large flat area like the Prius. This image indicates this might not be possible, which is confusing since the photos I've seen don't match.

[LTLFTcomposite]

The raised back seat is a feature. In an SUV that would be called "theater style" seating!

They have said the back seats fold down. The table in the graphic says it all: How big? "(big) Enough(!)"

We won't really know until we can sit in the production model, but I think one thing they are trying to do "out of the gate" is make sure the car is big enough to avoid drawing the criticism that the EV is some kind of toy that doesn't meet consumers expectations.

[garygid]

I think the back of the Leaf's rear seat would fold forward, leaving the "deep" cargo space unchanged, but providing a "high" shelf ... unlike the Prius.

[mitch672]

You can see the rear cargo area and how the shelf will look, when the seats are folden in this picture..
it will not make a large flat area like the Prius, but will have a stepped shelf look, looks to be at least 6" or 8" above the "floor" of the cargo area.

http://media2.paultan.org/i/nissan-leaf-5.jpg

even larger picture:

http://vlane.com/img/blogs/mb/news07nissan_leaf_05.jpg

[palmermd]

They have said the back seats fold down. The table in the graphic says it all: How big? "(big) Enough(!)"

I have no problem with them saying that it is big enough. I do have a problem if they say they have more room but actually they have less. No point in trying to fool people, just be honest. The document clearly shows less rear seat space and more front space than a Prius. Why cant they just say that?

You can see the rear cargo area and how the shelf will look, when the seats are folden in this picture..
it will not make a large flat area like the Prius, but will have a stepped shelf look, looks to be at least 6" or 8" above the "floor" of the cargo area.

Thanks for the image. I still have not seen a photo of the car with the seats folded down. I can see from this image that there will not be a "false floor" to make the back all one level.