Look wherever world wide, and the largest cities have among the identical points, it doesn’t matter what the nation: area is tight, and entry to high-power fast-charging is proscribed at finest.
Applying that logic, the very tiny, four-passenger Nissan Sakura EV looks as if the proper components to use to an on a regular basis driver for Seoul, London, and Amsterdam—all cities which have put the main focus towards on-street Level 2 chargers situated close to the place individuals stay, supplemented with some fast-chargers at key hubs.
The game-changer, from an infrastructure-starved American perspective: The Sakura has a 20-kwh battery—lithium-ion chemistry, and liquid-cooled. Nissan lists a 40-minute fast-charging time to 80%, however with its 3.5-kw onboard charger a full cost may very well be had in lower than 5 hours on 240 volts.
Heck, on a bog-standard 15-amp, 120-volt American storage socket, plugging in in a single day might be sufficient for a full cost for the Sakura, or near it.
Japan faces among the identical points with charging entry. And contemplating the charging realities it’s not so shocking that the Sakura is the nation’s bestselling electrical automobile.
2024 Nissan Sakura EV – Tokyo
“That’s one of the reasons why Sakura is very successful—because you don’t need a high-powered charger to charge in your home,” underscored Nissan’s VP for product technique and planning, Pierre Loing, at a Q&A session weeks in the past on the Tokyo auto present.
In a drive of the Sakura throughout the present, Green Car Reports discovered that the Sakura served as a reminder that small EVs for the massive metropolis make a complete lot of sense on our facet of the ocean, too—if solely America would give them one other likelihood.
The Sakura, which went on sale a couple of yr in the past, applies Nissan’s EV experience from the Nissan Leaf and, extra just lately, the Ariya, to the Japanese kei-car mould. Kei automobiles are formed by laws—successfully prioritizing passenger area in a tiny footprint, and giving patrons numerous tax-and-fee benefits for driving a car that takes up much less area.
Kei automobiles are likely to value much less up entrance, and the Sakura is not any exception. It begins on the equal of about $15,000, and the totally loaded model I drove nonetheless landed underneath $20,000.
2024 Nissan Sakura EV – Tokyo
2024 Nissan Sakura EV – Tokyo
2024 Nissan Sakura EV – Tokyo
At simply 133.7 inches lengthy, 58.1 inches broad, and 65.2 inches tall, and using on a 98.2-inch wheelbase, the Sakura has a type that’s about as international to Americans as that of the Cybertruck. To get there, begin with vanlike dimensions, scaled approach down, however maintain the peak as tall as trendy crossovers whereas measuring far narrower.
To put it in perspective, top apart, the Sakura is about 10 inches shorter than both the two-door 2013-2019 Fiat 500e of the earlier era, or the closest all-electric providing for the U.S. market—the 2013-2016 Chevrolet Spark EV. While the Spark EV is lengthy gone, a gasoline model of the Spark had been offered within the U.S. market by 2022, and a 2024 Fiat 500e that’s about the identical size is on the best way quickly, beginning at $34,095.
The Sakura has front-wheel drive, with a permanent-magnet electrical motor delivering 63 hp and 144 lb-ft of torque. It rides on a front-strut, rear three-link structure, with entrance vented disc and rear drum brakes.
2024 Nissan Sakura EV – Tokyo
2024 Nissan Sakura EV – Tokyo
2024 Nissan Sakura EV – Tokyo
From the motive force’s seat, the interface feels very acquainted, with a selection between D (Drive), B (extra regenerative braking), and an e-Pedal mode (way more regenerative braking). I used to be shocked and delighted to seek out comforts like cozy, supportive seat cushions, heated seats, a heated steering wheel, and automated local weather management. There’s even a model of Nissan’s ProPilot assisted-driving system. Yes, this can be a world away from the no-frills Ford Festiva I as soon as drove (simply 7 inches longer than the Sakura).
It’s what’s inside that’s verging on miraculous. Somehow the Sakura has area for 4 adults, with straightforward entry and exit. I felt much more comfortable within the again seat of the Sakura than I did within the again seat of a Chevy Tahoe the next week.
And at a long-legged 6-foot-6, I’m removed from typical Japanese proportions, but I discovered I might comfortably sit behind certainly one of myself.
2024 Nissan Sakura EV – Tokyo
If you haven’t pushed a kei automobile, the texture of the rack-and-pinion steering system and the way it contributes to the expertise may be your first shock right here. Its ratio is lengthy and exact, and it helps give the automobile an assured feeling that counters concern at first look that it’s tall and tipsy. But the Sakura’s low battery mass provides extra, with the steering tuning and pack bringing an particularly low planted impression that’s undoubtedly totally different from different gasoline-powered kei automobiles I’ve pushed.
Thinking of the powertrain solely, the Sakura feels quite a bit just like the first-generation Leaf behind the wheel (belief me, we nonetheless have one within the family). It doesn’t have the low-speed punch of the present Leaf, and even the strongest e-Pedal mode is a bit more restrained, however an extended accelerator-pedal journey offers you a lot of management, whereas brake mixing is best than that of many different luxury-brand fashions.
Body-wide, there’s not a lot carry, squat, and nosedive, as we car-testers say, though one fast right-left-right maneuver was sufficient to inform you that there’s loads of softness and physique lean in abrupt maneuvers—and thin 155/65R14 tires—to discourage the chance. It’s ruled to a prime velocity of 81 mph, however my metropolis loop, between stoplights in a enterprise space, didn’t get a lot previous 40 mph.
2024 Nissan Sakura EV – Tokyo
After getting out and stepping again, it occurred to me that the tires plus the Sakura’s curb weight of two,376 kilos add as much as what Americans broadly drove as compact automobiles from the Eighties and ‘90s—albeit with a much bigger footprint.
Can Americans get previous their preconceptions—and our very totally different security considerations? If we will get previous the deal with super-sized electrical pickups, gigantic three-row electrical SUVs, we’d discover that conserving EVs charged up for the every day drive may be a lot simpler, if solely we’d discover a solution to look a bit smaller.
Source: www.greencarreports.com