Look anyplace world wide, and the largest cities have a number of the identical points, it doesn’t matter what the nation: house is tight, and entry to high-power fast-charging is restricted at greatest.
Making use of that logic, the very tiny, four-passenger Nissan Sakura EV looks like the right system to use to an on a regular basis driver for Seoul, London, and Amsterdam—all cities which have put the main focus on-street Stage 2 chargers positioned close to the place folks stay, supplemented with some fast-chargers at key hubs.
The sport-changer, from an infrastructure-starved American perspective: The Sakura has a 20-kwh battery with lithium-ion chemistry and it is liquid-cooled. Nissan lists a 40-minute fast-charging time to 80%, however with its 3.5-kw onboard charger a full cost could possibly 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. And that is good for a 112-mile vary within the international WLTP cycle.
Japan faces a number of the identical points with charging entry. And contemplating the charging realities it’s not so stunning that the Sakura is the nation’s bestselling electrical automotive.
2024 Nissan Sakura EV – Tokyo
“That’s one of many explanation why Sakura may be very profitable—since you don’t want a high-powered charger to cost in your house,” Pierre Loing, Nissan’s VP for product technique and planning, stated at a Q&A session weeks in the past on the Tokyo auto present.
In a drive of the Sakura through the present, Inexperienced Automobile Experiences discovered that the Sakura served as a reminder that small EVs for the large metropolis make an entire lot of sense on our aspect of the ocean, too—if solely America would give them one other probability.
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 vehicles are formed by laws—successfully prioritizing passenger house in a tiny footprint, and giving patrons numerous tax-and-fee benefits for driving a automobile that takes up much less house.
Kei vehicles are inclined to price much less up entrance, and the Sakura isn’t any exception. It begins on the equal of about $15,000, and the totally loaded model I drove nonetheless landed below $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 huge, and 65.2 inches tall, and driving on a 98.2-inch wheelbase, the Sakura has a kind that’s about as international to Individuals as that of the Cybertruck. To get there, begin with van-like proportions, scaled means down, however hold the peak as tall as trendy crossovers whereas measuring far narrower.
To place it in perspective, peak 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. Whereas the Spark EV is lengthy gone, a gasoline model of the Spark had been offered within the U.S. market by means of 2022, and a 2024 Fiat 500e that’s about the identical size is on the way in which 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 (far more regenerative braking). I used to be shocked and delighted to seek out comforts like supportive seat cushions, heated seats, a heated steering wheel, and computerized local weather management. There’s even a model of Nissan’s ProPilot assisted-driving system. Sure, this can be a world away from the no-frills Ford Festiva I as soon as drove (simply seven inches longer than the Sakura).
It’s what’s inside that’s verging on miraculous. Someway the Sakura has house for 4 adults, with straightforward entry and exit. I felt way more relaxed 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 considered one of myself.
2024 Nissan Sakura EV – Tokyo
For those who haven’t pushed a kei automotive, 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 automotive an assured feeling that counters concern at first look that it’s tall and tipsy. However the Sakura’s low battery mass provides extra, with the steering tuning and pack bringing an particularly low planted impression that’s positively totally different from different gasoline-powered kei vehicles I’ve pushed.
Pondering of the powertrain solely, the Sakura feels loads 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 a protracted accelerator-pedal journey provides you a number of management, whereas brake mixing is healthier than that of many different luxury-brand fashions.
Physique-wide, there’s not a lot elevate, 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 likelihood. It’s ruled to a high 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 Individuals extensively drove as compact vehicles from the Nineteen Eighties and ‘90s—albeit with an even bigger footprint.
Can Individuals get previous their preconceptions—and our very totally different security issues? If we are able to get previous the give attention to super-sized electrical pickups and gigantic three-row electrical SUVs, we’d discover that holding EVs charged up for the day by day drive may be a lot simpler, if solely we’d discover a method to look somewhat smaller.