NISSAN LEAF 
Put aside thoughts of milk floats and Sinclair C5s.This is proper grown-up electric motoring.
The first thing you notice is just how “car-like” it is.
The second thing is just how quick it is. In drive mode, the Leaf is a match for most in the getaway from the lights and you have to keep an eye on the speedometer to avoid breaking the law.
The faint-hearted may choose the economy mode which gives you slower pace in return for a longer range.
There are just two pedals and the car is similar to a traditional automatic to start - foot on the brake, select drive, foot on accelerator - and it pulls away beautifully smoothly. Its sharp handling matches its turn of speed.
Of course, it is a city car rather than a grand tourer - however luxurious the genuine five-seat interior. The maximum 100 miles between charges does not sound much but ask yourself, how many days do you do no more than drive to work and back again?
Let's just hope all those battery scientists are on overtime because, as good as it is, the Leaf needs a 400-mile range to justify its £26,000 price tag.
Alan Salter
PEUGEOT 308
There are some of us of a certain age who remember the horror of damp plugs, flooded carburetors, jammed starter motors ...and consequent flat batteries.
And to that ageing minority, the idea of turning off the engine at the traffic lights brings us out in a cold sweat.
And yet, as fuel prices and global warming climb to critical levels, we obviously cannot live with all those engines idling to no good purpose.
Of course, stop start technology is no more than an interim stage on the way to electric or hydrogen-powered motoring. But with the first mass produced electric car arriving at market with an enormous price tag and a meagre 100-mile range (See page 9) it will be around for a while yet.
It was back in 2004 that Peugeot Citroën pioneered micro-hybrid stop & start starter-alternator technology and last year introduced an improved version of the technology on its 1.6-litre HDi, the group’s most popular diesel engine.
By next year, they say, almost a third of their HDi engines will be stop starters.
The last time a drove a car (not a Peugeot Citroen) which threatened to shut down at lights, I bottled out and turned it off. On this occasion, however, one of the main purposes of being invited to climb into the three new versions of the Peugeot 308 models was to wonder at 15 per cent better mpg in city driving and an engine which restarts with a touch of the clutch in 400 milliseconds …so it would have been churlish to pass up the opportunity.
All three variants of the new 308 which went on sale this month - hatch, cabriolet, and station wagon - can be fitted with stop start and regenerative braking. Peugeot’s task now is to convince us all that it is worth having.
For the UK launch, they chose a British city uniquely qualified to test the merits of the technology. Cardiff’s obsession with red traffic lights is quite astonishing…and unnerving at first to sit waiting for amber without power. The engine will even stop and start on the move if you cruise in neutral below certain low speeds.
You can keep the clutch depressed to prevent the cut-out and a dashboard button will disable the system. But, take heart and give it a try. I promise it will start instantly as soon as you depress the clutch and, while you may not beat the Stigg away from the lights, there is no real delay.
The secret of Peugeot’s success is its e-Booster system which consists of a 5 volts super capacitor (1b) to store electrical power and the system’s power electronics (1a). It helps to boost the vehicle’s standard battery voltage to power the reversible alternator / starter during engine restarts.
Of course many drivers of the CC will not be terribly worried about the engine stopping and starting and more about whether there is enough power to make the extra weight go fast enough. There is.
I drove a 1600 diesel through the valleys and would have guessed it was a 2 litre. Some might balk at only 12.2 seconds to 62mph and opt for the 2 litre which gets there in 8.9 seconds. But to be honest, we are not Formula 1 drivers wearing crash helmets and we don’t need to go super fast with the roof down.
And talking of roves the last convertible I drove was a Ford Focus – but that was in Sardinia, not Cardiff. So when the rain started on the outskirts of the Welsh capital, Peugeot’s roof-raising credentials were tested – and stepped up to the mark.
Beside the style of the CC, the station wagon is…erm, well… practical.
But all three models hold the road well and have a feel of quality which, perhaps, will surprise some of the Francophobes out there.
Alan Salter