Staying within range

The Leaf comes standard with many features designed to help ease fears of running out of ‘juice.’

Range anxiety has been cited as a major concern among potential buyers of the new Nissan Leaf and forthcoming all-electric vehicles (EVs) from other makers. However, as the pioneer, Nissan has taken many steps to ensure the term is more one of early conjecture than a real-world issue.

Leaf has several “range awareness” features in its display panels, including a sophisticated version of the “low fuel” warnings on gasoline engine cars. Further, there are indicated ways-including an “ECO” mode, to extend range, equivalent to what the driver of a gasoline engine car might do if the low-fuel light goes on and he or she is nowhere near a filling station.