The motivation for electric vehicles: Power scheme
The Nissan LEAF is the first generation of mass-produced pure-electric family passenger vehicles for the mass market.
Power scheme
The Nissan LEAF adopts an 80 kWh permament magnet synchronous motor with a torque of 280 N⋅m. As it was the first pure electric vehicle on the mass market, it set the highest standard for all subsequent pure-electric family passenger vehicles in terms of its power scheme and energy efficiency.
Later electric vehicles (such as Tesla's) were not "forced" to achieve this until 2017, and two years later, all such vehicles on the market adopted permanent magnet synchronous motors.
After 10 years and 74,500 miles (119,200 kilometers), the performance of the motor has barely degraded. This is an example of a key difference between electric and internal combustion powertrains (the system that propels the vehicle forward)—electric power greatly simplifies the powertrain of passenger cars and greatly extends the life of the car. It is honestly quite surprising how one of the more complex and fragile parts of the entire internal combustion system becomes, in electric vehicles, the part with the longest lifespan and one with almost zero maintenance requirements. Such a development is a revolutionary step.