So quiet and cool - but so expensive

What is it? The Nissan Leaf is the first all-electric motor vehicle to go on sale here in South Africa.

Voted 2011 European and World Car of the Year, it trades the traditional internal combustion engine for an electric motor and a state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery pack mounted low between the two axles.

It is only available to motorists living in Johannesburg and Pretoria at the moment; takes seven hours to charge from the electrical grid; and offers an optimum driving range of 195km.

If you find yourself running low on juice you can pop into any Leaf-certified Nissan dealership for a complementary quick-charge service that restores 80% of battery-power in 30 minutes.

How does it look?

Like its more conventional eco-warrior rival, the Toyota Prius hybrid, the new Leaf is certainly not the most exciting car you'll ever clap eyes on.

In fact, thanks to its high roof, bulbous body and gawky shoulder line, this electric Nissan is about as sexy as Bill Gates in a polyester business suit.

Fortunately, what the Leaf loses in aesthetics it makes up for in practicality.

With that lengthy wheelbase it has no qualms about seating four adults - five at a push - in a surprising amount of comfort. It also has 450-litres of boot space, which is more than adequate for your weekly grocery run.

Those heated rear leather seats can also be folded flat to accommodate more ungainly items of cargo.

Other neat touches include a two-tier digital instrument cluster that displays information like speed, battery power and estimated range remaining.

There's also an Eco Indicator that, like in the Honda CR-Z, illustrates how efficient or inefficient your driving style is by growing virtual trees. You also score cruise control, a keyless entry system, Bluetooth audio streaming and a reverse camera for parking manoeuvres.

What's it like to drive?

I really wasn't expecting to say this, but the Nissan Leaf is a surprisingly good thing to pilot.

Not only does it accelerate with vigour from a standstill thanks to that torquey electric motor and single-speed gear-reduction transmission, it also feels impressively nimble through corners, because most of the car's weight has been hung low between the two axles.

The Leaf rides nicely too - that softly sprung suspension system soaks up the choppier scabs of Jozi bitumen with aplomb.

In fact, the only thing that takes a bit of getting used to is the aggressive bite of the regenerative braking system. Come off the throttle and the car immediately starts slowing down.

So much so that I often found myself not needing to use the actual brake pedal when dawdling through patches of heavy traffic.

Other than that, the Leaf feels like a high-riding family hatchback. One that is both comfortable and easy to drive - not to mention eerily quiet.

Any special features?

You have to buy a mandatory R30000 home charger unit that ensures safe and efficient charging with no risk of fire, surge or overheating.

This unit is supplied by Nissan and installed by their team of electricians at no extra cost. Once up and running, it will deliver a full battery charge in approximately seven hours.

Should you buy one?

This, dear readers, is a really tough call. On the one hand, I really like the new Nissan Leaf. Sure it isn't much to look at, but it drives well and offers more than enough range to conquer the drudgery of your daily A to B urban commute.

It's also affordable to run: a Leaf driven 2500km every month will cost you in the region of R310 . That's a whopping 80% less than what it takes to fuel any one of its hybrid rivals. Packing fewer moving parts than a regular internal combustion engine, this Nissan should be considerably cheaper and easier to maintain in the long run too. The downside to this otherwise cheery story is that it comes at a considerable price.

Once you factor in the compulsory purchase of that home charging unit, the new Nissan Leaf sits dangerously close to the R500 000 mark.

And this is a lot of money to pay for a car that is confined to journeys of 190km or less. Not great if you only have the household budget for one vehicle.

And you can call into question the legitimacy of that "zero emissions" claim: even though the Leaf doesn't have an exhaust pipe, it is still running on those dirty fossil fuels burnt to produce electricity for the Eskom grid.

You could always change this by investing in various green energy solutions - think household wind or solar power - but this will require extra capital outlay.

So until our government starts offering some kind of incentive/rebate programme similar to the one in California, electric vehicles like the Leaf will probably remain the preserve of the wealthy: a second- or third-car folly for those who can afford to make a strong social statement.

If you can do this, great. If you can't, then you would be better off with something like the Nissan Qashqai 1.5 dCi: a frugal SUV that is not only cheaper to buy and more practical to live with but, for the time being at least, probably not much harder on the environment.