Nissan confirms it’s working on a 60kWh, 200 mile range Leaf

Curtis Moldrich Read more June 22, 2016

The Nissan Leaf is already our favourite low-cost electric car, but new reports confirm it’s about to get even better. For the last few months, Nissan has been hinting at a longer range Leaf, and even unveiled a concept car with a 60kWh battery last year. Now the Japanese car maker has confirmed it’s working on a 60kWh, 200 mile range model and it can’t come soon enough.

Nissan confirms it’s working on a 60kWh, 200 mile range Leaf

In an interview with AutoblogGreen Kazuo Yajima, Nissan’s global director of EV and HEV engineering said “[a 60-kWh Leaf] is coming. I’m sorry I cannot say when.”

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Of course, this news doesn’t really come as a surprise, but it’s significant that Nissan is still trying to push ahead and innovate amid the already huge success of the Nissan Leaf. The 60kWh battery should equate to around 210 to 220 miles of driving between charges, and that means it’ll be effectively doubling the range of the larger 30kWh Leaf.

We still don’t know when the next Nissan Leaf will launch, but most sources point to a 2017 or 2018 window. When we do see the 60kWh Nissan Leaf, it’ll encounter huge competition from the likes of the lower-cost Tesla Model 3 and the Chevrolet Bolt EV, but I think its price means it’s still the most appealing proposition for your average consumer.