http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/al ... ducts-2010

It’s not the first pure EV, but the Leaf is hitting the mainstream like none of its predecessors. At $33,720 ($26,220 after the federal rebate), the Leaf costs the same as an average car and offers a 100-mile range—enough to cover the needs of the vast majority of commuters and errand runners. More than 13,000 U.S. buyers have already plunked down $99 deposits, and Nissan hopes to soon move 150,000 units a year worldwide. The car is eerily quiet to drive. “The vehicle is equipped with a sound generator just so people can hear it coming,” says Paul Hawson, product planner for the Leaf. But the real triumph lies in its family-car practicality and normalcy. And since electricity is cheaper than gas, the Leaf delivers lower operating costs. A rational EV that doesn’t drive like a science project? About time.



User Interface

The Leaf’s digital display and navigation system plot the most efficient routes and suggest ways to extend range—for example, by reducing the a/c. Drivers will also be able to track their performance online and compare themselves to other Leaf owners.

Charging

Two plugs are located in the nose: a standard Level II 220-volt charger that fills the batteries in about 8 hours and a Level III quick charger that hits 80 percent in 30 minutes. The juice needed for 100 miles runs about $3—less than half of the cost of gas for the same trip.

Torque
While the Leaf’s electric motor produces only 107 hp, it offers a peak 207 lb-ft of torque at 0 rpm. In other words: Unlike a gas car, it can pop off the line with an immediate and steady stream of power. While braking, the motor also charges the battery.

Battery Pack
With no gas-engine backup, the Leaf's 24-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack is both larger and uses a greater percentage of its capacity than the Volt’s pack does. Although both companies are tight-lipped about details, the Leaf's 192 cells have a slightly different chemistry. They're also stacked horizontally, like books on a table, to form a compact pallet under the floor, freeing up interior space for five passengers.

Since it's a trail blazer and the first mass-market release of a pure EV that can seat 4 or 5 adults (I think Mitsubishi's iMiev was close but only in Japan and possibly Europe, and it is quite a bit smaller), it is going to be an open target for lots of scrutiny and critisism.

But the fact of the matter is, Nissan was the only company with the courage to take the plunge and lead the way into this new territory of transportation and for that they deserve nothing but congratulations, in my opinion. There are many companies with the technology to theorectically produce a vehicle like this, but it's one thing to talk about it and entirely another to implement it and bring it to the masses.

And from what I read, there isn't too much to critisize about this car anyway, so Way to go Nissan.