LIKE A LEAF

Floating through the beauty of Ireland, while leaving a very small carbon footprint

- Rishad Saam Mehta

I grew up in an era when cubic capacity was king. And I am fifty years old, so do the maths!

‘Dikra, there is no replacement for displacement’ was an oft proclaimed phrase, usually broadcast by bombastic bawajis who owned gas-guzzling big-bore American relics from the 1950s and 1960s. A ‘miniscule’ 2.5-litre engine was looked upon with disdain and considered as one that would struggle to climb the Bhor ghat from Khopoli to Khandala.

The burble of the back pipe, the pulsations of pistons, and roar with respect to rpm, were the yardstick by which the mettle of a motorcar was measured.

So at the wheel of the electric Nissan Leaf clipping along silently and effortlessly at 120 kph, on the N7 in the Republic of Ireland, I smile, because this car gives those bawajis a birdie, does so without emitting any malodorous emissions into the environment, and only by egging on electrons.

Earlier Michael Coghlan — who heads Nissan’s EV division in the Republic of Ireland — had kindly picked me up from Dublin airport, and we’d driven to Nissan’s Head office in Park West Business Park, Dublin in a Nissan Qashqai. It’s where the Nissan Leaf was parked, its 62 kWh bank of batteries charged to 100 per cent.

Michael gave me a little orientation about the car, controls, and multimedia menus, and I was off. Now, on the N7, I am headed to Naas, which is just 30 km away, but at 120 kph, the 160-kW motor seems to be sucking out the juice with a hosepipe, instead of being slowly sipped through a straw. However, I am not concerned because I know for a fact that the Killashee Hotel that I am staying at has charging points, so I am maxing the speed limit and thoroughly enjoying it.