Nissan Leaf Breaks Another Record

The fully-electric zero emission Nissan Leaf has already won multiple awards, but this weekend it broke yet another world record.

It rewrote the record books through being recognised as the fastest car to travel a measured mile in reverse.

At the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Nissan Leaf raced backwards up the festival’s infamous hillclimb course, ultimately completinga mile in just one minute and 37.02 seconds at an average speed of 55mph.

But that’s not all. Having set the record on the Friday of the festival, the Nissan Leaf would ho on to break said record on the Saturday and the Sunday. Incredibly, an amazing 26 seconds was ultimately shaved off the time set on the Friday of the festival.

Says stunt driver Terry Grant who set and broke the record over the course of the weekend: : “I had a great car at my disposal – with direct drive from the electric motor to its wheels, the Nissan LEAF can, in theory, go as fast backwards as it can forwards.

“There were times I wasn’t sure I was coming or going. However, thanks to the LEAF’s low centre of gravity – the batteries are an integral part of the car’s floor – the car is extremely stable, no matter which direction it’s travelling.

“The only complaint I have is slight neck ache from constantly looking over my shoulder!”

I suppose the overall message, then, is that for a car so forward thinking, the Nissan Leaf works just as well in reverse.

Make of that what you will.