Yutaka Sanada, Regional Senior Vice President of Nissan Asia and Oceania, recently announced that the all-electric Nissan Leaf will be sold in the Philippines in 2020.
I know what you’re thinking, “are we ready?” The country? Not so much, but you? Definitely.
The Nissan Leaf, by all accounts, is still just a car. It just doesn’t have an engine and doesn’t need oil or any of its byproducts. It is futuristic by Philippines standards for sure. But that doesn’t mean you can’t own or drive it here.
Nissan Philippines, Inc. (NPI) has been long been working with the government and the private sector to make the acquisition and operation of the Leaf as easy as turning on a light switch.
Price
P1.5 to 2 million is the projected price range and I’m using ‘projected’ very loosely here. For perspective and comparison, the 2019 Leaf is a five-door, five-seater compact hatchback. I assume the magic number for the Philippine market would be anything sub P1.4 million. As a purely electric vehicle, the Leaf is exempt from excise tax, but there’s the problem of tariff or import duties, which is anywhere from 15 - 100 percent. We could be getting those built in the US because of the left-hand drive layout and our tariff is very high on imported completely built-up (CBU) units from there. The Department of Energy is currently working with the Department of Finance to remove the tariff temporarily or even completely to spur the growth of EVs (electric vehicles) in the country.
Batteries and charging
Besides the car, buying a Leaf comes with a universal (charging) cable you can plug into your regular wall socket at home. It is a slow charger, which takes about 12-15 hours to power up the lithium-ion batteries. There are high-speed chargers that top up the batteries in just 40-60 minutes, but are complicated and expensive to install. Let big companies like MERALCO, Nissan and mall developers worry about that.
Range is a concern for many, but according to Nissan, their batteries have gotten better, from a range of 200 kilometers in 2010 to 400 kilometers today, though that's based on Japanese testing procedures. European testing puts range computation between 270-285 kilometers. Plus, Nissan gives a battery guaranty of 8 years.
Cost of ownership
Based on more than 400,000 Leafs in at least 60 different countries around the world, Leaf owners have experience at least a “25 percent reduction (in cost of ownership, servicing, etc.) versus an equal sized conventional car,” said Vincent Wijnen, Senior Vice President Nissan Asia and Oceania.
As the Leaf doesn’t need oil, hence no filters or oil changes, Nissan recommends that the vehicle be checked at least once a year.
If you’re wondering about the cost of charging the Leaf versus fueling up an internal combustion engine, Department of Energy Assistant Secretary, Leonido J. Pulido, III, cites a Philippine study on public utility electric and fossil fuel vehicles. The result, electricity is still cheaper per kilometer than fossil fuel.
Drive
The Leaf is so quiet, save for the faint spooling sound from the high-output inverter that makes 110 kW or about 150 HP. Without a gearbox and on Drive mode, power sent to the front wheels is instantaneous, yet it feels very smooth despite its 320 Nm of torque.
Steering is very light, hence it feels muted and somewhat unexciting. It is very maneuverable though, even along the tight streets of Hong Kong that mimic some of the eskenitas in Manila. Suspension is very supple and takes the punishment of potholes, and the twisties up and the down the mountains very well.
ECO mode retards throttle input somewhat, but assists in charging the battery. But if you want to maximize the Leaf’s power regeneration capabilities and reduce home charging costs, activate the e-Pedal with ECO mode. This way you get the benefits of EV power and regenerative braking while saving your brake pads.
When ECO mode and e-Pedal features are combined, each time you ease off the throttle, a deceleration force comparable to 0.2G takes effect and slows down the vehicle. If you consciously keep a light foot on the accelerator, watch your battery power continuously rise. That way, you actually charge the battery while you’re driving home.
Believe me, you’re ready
Research done in 2018 indicated that 46 percent of Filipinos are thinking of getting an EV on their next purchase.
Why not? It’s easier to operate than a conventional car, has zero emissions, and if you’re an office-to-home and vice-versa type of person, you don’t really need any infrastructure to charge it. It’s practically plug (at home) and drive.
Ramesh Narasimhan, President/Managing Director of Nissan Philippines, says the automaker is running parallel with the government’s efforts to ease the entry of EVs to the market. Although there is no EV infrastructure yet, the announcement should help fast track the approval of policies to benefit of some 50 million potential buyers.
NPI is bringing the future to you next year. No specific date has been set but that gives you enough lead time to do your own research and maybe save up some money. Either way, get ready to drive electric because the Nissan Leaf is coming in 2020.
By Eric Tipan