Between Nissan's media missives, and reports from the blogosphere, we have a pretty good idea about the most important metrics for the Nissan LEAF. What’s been lacking so far is information about the LEAF’s driving manners. Fortunately, Edmunds’s John O’Dell got behind the wheel of the LEAF yesterday and reported on his experience on the real streets of La Jolla, Calif.

Here are the highlights of what John experienced:

• Performance: Acceleration at takeoff was strong, but “not overpowering.” There was sufficient power for passing, but the power “flattens a bit at about 50 mph.” Like most EVs, LEAF provided “a stunningly quiet and smooth ride.”


• Feel of Accelerator and Brake Pedals: Much the same as conventional cars, “nothing odd or loose or sloppy.” That changed for John when he shifted into Eco mode, which “dials down the power considerably” and makes the accelerator pedal feel “fairly unresponsive for the first inch or so of travel.” The Eco mode enhanced regenerative braking, giving the brakes “a noticeable grab, although nothing like the neck-jarring sudden deceleration of the Mini E or Tesla Roadster.”


• Interior: Here’s where Mr. O’Dell believes the LEAF came up short. He wrote, “It's all a sort of grayish taupe” and “the LEAF's interior cries out for a little more color.” The LEAF's interior only comes in gray, regardless of the exterior, which is available in red, silver, white, black and blue. Once he get past the color, John wrote that the “LEAF feels much roomier than its compact designation suggests.” Like our contributor Nick Chambers captured in video from his ride in Japan, the 6’1” O’Dell said there was plenty of headroom, easy ingress and egress, and decent cargo space behind the rear seats.


• Range Indicator: John found the dashboard info center helped in easing range concerns by redundantly showing the distance and time traveled, and the distance to go before the battery is depleted.

I’ll continue to track the first media reviews for the LEAF, and hopefully soon have a chance to get behind the wheel myself. By the way, the Nissan-Aerovironment-approved electrician came out to my house today to assess the readiness for my home charging station. The experience was painless, and lasted all of about 10 minutes. All systems go.