My experiences with the Nissan Leaf
I drove the Nissan Leaf for a week, the version that is now in the showrooms. This version had the e-Pedal, a pedal with which you brake and accelerate. Pressing the pedal is accelerating, letting go is braking. It sounds scary, but in practice it is a piece of cake to drive it. In any case, driving the Leaf is not a punishment. I am not a petrolhead and I do not base my personality on the car I drive. I see a car as a means to get from A to B. The Leaf drove like a dream. No problems at all with driving. Modern, easy, and so on. There are no roaring engines in the Leaf, but more of a subdued hum.
What is an issue for me – and I think for many others – is charging. There is no charging point at work and a parking space in front of the door is a utopia in a medium-sized city if you do not have your own driveway. You have to be lucky that there is space at the charging station (being home for about four hours is always a good time). If you come home later, the charging spots are occupied until the next morning.
Driving really involves planning and taking into account that indonesia telegram data time will have to be spent at a charging point, one way or another. Installing more charging points will help of course, but where are you going to place them? In large(r) cities there is often no space and the car naturally belongs in front of the door. According to Michel Bayings, the average Dutch person drives 28 kilometers per day. If you drive little, then with the new generation of electric cars you can go a week without charging. But given the price of such a car, it is now mainly the business driver who takes to the road. Super fast charging is coming, but that must also be supported by the models.
We are experiencing an electric revolution, but it must also be gradual. The infrastructure is not designed for large-scale electric transport. Of course, we are talking about cars, but what about trucks, vans and buses? The models are available in small quantities and the components and raw materials are scarce.
I believe that electric driving – on its own or as part of the energy transition – is an irreversible trend. After all, we don't see a horse and carriage or horse tram in the Netherlands for public transport. In the last 10 years, we have made enormous progress in electric driving with a growing infrastructure and more electric vehicles. And we must continue! Also because of geopolitical dependencies that we want to get rid of.
If we use resources wisely and also stimulate (or even enforce) electric transport and other transitions in the right way, I expect that we will see a further increase in electric transport in the coming years. Charging will remain one of the most persistent challenges.