Ten years ago, when the modern electrical car was introduced to the big public,
the range was one of the most important factors.
How far would they take you? After all, a car is the key to your freedom.
Car manufacturers downplayed those problems. They said that an average drive would be around 60 km,
so if cars have ranges of about 100 km, you're going to be fine.
Anyway, in reality, it all became a range race.
Every manufacturer which released a new electrical vehicle...
made sure it had a slightly bigger range than whatever...
the competition had in the showrooms.
When they were updated, they received bigger battery packs,
and it's the same thing at Nissan.
The first generation Nissan Leaf received a bigger battery pack as well, when that was updated.
And now that the first has been successed by the second generation, this car has also received a bigger battery pack.
You should be able to do 270 km on one charge, and there's going to be another upgrade next year.
It doesn't have the range of the Opel Ampera-e though, because that can do 380 km on one charge.
Right now we're entering a phase in which range isn't everything anymore. Instead, the total package is now the most important thing.
So which car has the best package? The Nissan or the Opel?
The Leaf has an electrical motor which produces 150 horsepower, and that's sufficient.
It has enough power in lower revs and it can easily go with the traffic flow.
There's not a lot to complain about there.
Basically, this car has a braking pedal and an throttle pedal.
If you push a button however, you can bypass the braking pedal,
because you'll be doing everything with the throttle. If you release that,
the car will brake on the electrical motor. That's incredibly easy.
If we believe the dials, which we do, obviously,
we're using 18 kWh per 100 kilometres on average. That means that if you've got a battery pack producing 40 kWh,
you should be able to travel more than 200 kilometres. That's pretty good.
For the new Leaf, Nissan draws on the platform of its predecessor.
That's because there isn't a lot to complain about in that chassis. It's aimed at comfort.
The batteries have been positioned rather low in the car, so the drive is incredibly stable.
The steering feels a little distant, but it isn't annoying or anything.
If you put everything together, it's a pretty good package.
The car we're driving right now has the Tekna-trim level fitted, that's the most complete version available.
We've got electrical seat heating, camera's around the car so we can watch everything,
it absolutely looks good.
The interior of the new Leaf looks a little conservative, if we compare it with the first generation.
That's mostly seen in the instruments cluster, because there isn't an extra bar of information above the steering wheel.
Everything is now on one screen. Also, Nissan has answered to the customers,
they've brought back the old fashioned analogue speed dial.
It doesn't get any clearer than that.
It does feature some controls from the previous generation in the middle console, but it's very intuitive, so we won't complain.
The used materials look very decent, and they feel incredibly durable.
The seating position is alright as well. What I find remarkable however,
and it's a little unfortunate as well, but you can only adjust the steering wheel in height.
You can't pull it towards you, and something like that is incredibly rare in 2018.
Because you're on top of the battery pack, you're a little higher up than in other C-segment cars.
That isn't a big problem in the front, because you've got enough headroom,
but it gets more difficult when you move to the back. You'll soon find your head touching the ceiling.
That's too bad.
Something that has been improved relative to the previous generation, is the luggage space.
It has grown and it can now fit 435 litres, and that's very decent.
Under the hood of the Ampera-e, we'll find an electrical motor producing 204 horsepower.
That isn't a small amount, and it's a lot more than the Nissan has to offer.
You won't notice a lot of difference in a sprint, because it's all about the way it delivers the power to the tarmac,
but when the speeds get higher, you'll see that the Opel is the fastest one of the two.
The Ampera-e is just a tad faster than the Leaf in regular traffic, so there's nothing wrong with that.
It doesn't feature an e-pedal though. If you want to brake, you'll have to press the brake pedal.
If you want to use your feet that is, because behind the steering wheel,
the Ampera-e has a sort of switch, which you can use as a manual brake.
It isn't the handbrake, but you can stop the car with that as well.
Not only does it have a higher power output, the electrical motor in the Opel uses more electricity as well.
It needs 21 kWh per 100 kilometres, and that's less efficient than the Nissan.
Both cars have energy label A, but that's because there isn't coming anything from the exhaust.
If you'd compare them like vacuum cleaners or washing machines, they'd probably have different energy labels.
Anyway, thanks to the bigger battery pack, you've got a bigger range in the Opel.
The chassis of the Ampera-e isn't as comfortable as Nissan's chassis.
It feels pretty bumpy, you'll feel more imperfections on the road surface,
and the steering is more direct than in the Nissan as well. That might be handy in the city,
but when you're going for longer journeys, it feels kind of nervous.
That's too bad.
The dashboard of the Ampera-e looks pretty futuristic, but when you get a closer look,
we prefer the dashboard of the Nissan Leaf.
The used materials are just hard plastics, not very pretty,
and if we look at the buttons, it seems the prints differ per button.
One seems to be lighter, the other looks a little darker,
different fonts... It all looks a little messy,
and that's something you wouldn't expect from a car which almost costs €50.000.
Anyway, there's a big, modern screen on the dash.
The only downside to that is that there isn't any satnav. For that, you'll have to rely on your phone.
Of course you can say that you've always got an up-to-date system, but I'd like to know where the nearest loading station is.
You can't see that on the screen unfortunately.
Opel has done a better job of the steering wheel, because you can adjust it in more ways.
That way, you're able to create the ideal seating position.
The headroom in the rear is a little cramped, just like in the Nissan.
The luggage space is a lot smaller than the Nissan, and that shows that this is a completely different car.
Opel and Nissan both show how much electrical cars have grown,
but they do that in their own ways.
The Ampera-e can get the furthest on a full charge, but that comes at a price.
The entry price is €46.000, and that's a whole lot more than the entry price of the Nissan Leaf;
just over €33.000. If we look at the cars themselves,
the Leaf is the grown up car of the two.
So if you don't need the additional range of the Opel, you should go for the Nissan.