While the introduction of the Nissan Leaf perhaps represents a tipping point in the wide-scale adoption of the electric car, for car enthusiasts the world over it could be seen as the harbinger of something far more lamentable - the disappearance of enjoyment from the motoring experience. Specifically, the demise of the winning internal combustion engine / manual gearbox combination and the associated aural stimulation and tactility it brings.
However, with this, the Nissan Leaf Aero Style Concept, Nissan are attempting to sweeten the electric car pill with a hint of dynamic aggression. Although the Leaf's 90kW AC motor remains as standard, the rakish stylistic additions begin to hint at the wider range of design directions which could be pursued as a result of an electric drivetrain's more flexible packing. This is most noticeable up front, where the absence of an ungainly alloy lump with a prodigious appetite for air liberates the front end of gaping oxygen hungry orifices and hunkers the whole front end preciptously downwards with sporting intent.
The Leaf Aero Style Concept makes its debut at the Tokyo Auto Salon on the 14th January 2011, and promises to place modified EVs alongside appropriately suited and booted Priuses (Prii, Priora?) on my list of automotive guilty pleasures.
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