Here's a story I found with more about the Nissan Leaf.
Nissan Leaf Silently Scales Pikes Peak
- By Chuck Squatriglia
- June 28, 2011 |
- 3:30 pm |
- Categories: Autopia WTF? Dept., EVs and Hybrids
Updated with more photos and info at 4:30 p.m. EDT.
Yes, that’s a Nissan Leaf electric vehicle. And yes, that is Pikes Peak it’s climbing — in decent time, no less.
Chad Hord, who is more often seen beating the snot out of a race-prepped Nissan Titan, completed the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 14 minutes and 33 seconds.
That’s on par with the slowest finishers in some internal combustion divisions and an impressive finish for what was an essentially bone stock Nissan Leaf. Aside from safety gear and race-ready wheels and tires, the car that Hord drove was identical to the one Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn wants to put in your driveway.
For those who don’t know, Pikes Peak is one of the most storied, and challenging, events in motorsports. Drivers run flat-out over a 12.42 mile course that features 156 turns. The course, which includes gravel and tarmac, begins at 9,390 feet and finishes at the 14,110-foot summit.
While most entries roar through the course, the Nissan Leaf zipped along with only the sound of squealing tires and the high-pitched beeper installed to warn spectators the car was coming. Nissan tells us the state of charge meter showed three bars (out of 12) remaining at the end of the run. That suggests Hord burned through three-quarters of the 24 kilowatt-hour pack’s capacity during the run.
“The Leaf was great fun to drive up the mountain” Hord said in a statement. “With the instant torque from the electric motor we were able to jump out of the many slow corners and the performance was very consistent from the bottom to the top since the electric motor wasn’t affected by the high altitude near the summit like the gasoline powered cars.”
Although Nissan’s go-fast guys at NISMO have built a race-ready Leaf, don’t expect to see Leafs — yes, Nissan insists that’s the plural — throwing down in competition. Nissan said the run up Pikes Peak was meant to show what the tech can do.
Photos and video: Nissan
Hord answers some questions about the Leaf and prepping for Pikes Peak.
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