At this week’s NissanFutures event in Oslo, Norway, Nissan unveiled its plan for electric charging infrastructure – but it also had some interesting news about the new Nissan Leaf EV. Alongside a special limited-edition European version of the new Nissan Leaf, Nissan also unveiled that there’ll be a sportier Nismo version of its new EV – but we’ll have until the Tokyo Motor Show to properly see it.
Nissan’s limited version of the new Leaf is called the Leaf 2.ZERO , and it’s going to be the first Nissan model to be fully equipped with ProPILOT – which is basically Nissan’s semi-autonomous tech package. The new EV is available to buy right now, and it’ll cost you £26,490, including the government EV grant. What’s more, deliveries will start at the beginning of next year.
However, the 2.ZERO might not be the Nissan Leaf you’ll want to buy – because Nissan also teased the existence of a Nissan Leaf Nismo edition. If you’re already familiar with the Nissan brand, you’ll know Nismo is basically the tuning division of the company, and has helped to produce some of the fastest, most exciting cars the brand has ever made.
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Although Nissan didn’t reveal much of the new Leaf, a teaser image showed a meaner, far more aggressive-looking EV – mainly thanks to a Fast and Furious-style bodykit. As the Leaf is electric, we’d expect most of the modifications or performances increases to come from a mixture of bodywork and ECU reprogramming – but we’ll find out more in Tokyo.
It’s possible that the new Leaf Nismo edition could trade range for speed, and it’s also possible that a “Nismo” tuning package could be added to existing Leafs – like Tesla’s own Ludicrous mode. We’ll find out when the Tokyo Motor Show rolls around later this year.
New Nissan Leaf: Everything else
Nissan has unveiled a brand new version of the Leaf, and it’s one of the most important electric cars ever to be released. Featuring a 235 mile range (NEDC), semi-autonomous technology and the option of one pedal-driving, it brings just key features at a likely affordable price. We’ll drive the new Nissan Leaf soon, but in the meantime here are the key features and specs you need to know.
New Nissan Leaf: Design
For the last few weeks, Nissan has teased pictures of the new Nissan Leaf, so we pretty much knew what the new EV looked like. It features generally sharper styling than before, and it’s a little more svelte than the bug-eyed, previous model.
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New Nissan Leaf: Range and performance
The new Leaf packs in a 40kWh battery, so it’ll be able to travel 235miles (NEDC) before charging, way more than the 100 or so mile range of the previous model. To put that in perspective, the Tesla Model S P100D has a range of around 380 miles (NEDC).
Charging will take 16 hours from a 3kW source, 8 ours from a 6kW source and just 40 minutes from a quick charger.
The new Nissan Leaf should be faster too: Power output is now at 110 kW and torque has been increased to 320 Nm, so it should be pretty rapid to 30mph.
New Nissan Leaf: Semi autonomous technology
One of the most important things about the new Nissan Leaf is its inclusion of semi-autonomous technology; Nissan has fitted its new EV with ProPILOT technology, which effectively drives the car for you.
ProPilot works between 19mph and 62mph, and is basically a combination of adaptive cruise control and lane keeping technologies. That means it’ll keep to a driver-set speed, unless the car in front slows down – and it’ll also stay centered within the lane you’re in. ProPilot also comes with start-stop technology, so it’ll stop automatically in traffic – and only needs a touch of the accelerator to get going again.
It’s pretty weird that ProPilot only works to 62mph though, as that’s clearly under the UK motorway speed limits – and way under what most adpative cruise control systems can do. It’ll be interesting to see if Nissan changes that before the Leaf’s UK release.
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New Nissan Leaf: e-Pedal
The new Leaf has an e-Pedal, a driving mode that essentially allows for one foot operation. According to Nissan, the ePedal will significantly slow down the car when the driver isn’t on the accelerator.
Electric cars do that already, but the ePedal mode is also able to bring the car to a stop, and even hold a car on the hill. It’s best to think of it as a more advanced B mode, which doubles up as an automatic handbrake.
Nissan says drivers will be able to toggle the system or or off, and that brakes will still be needed when a sudden stop is necessary – but it’s going to be a useful feature, regardless.
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New Nissan Leaf: Price
We’re not sure how much the new Nissan Leaf will cost in the UK, but we can take a guess based on other released prices. The Japanese price of the new EV is 3,150,360 yen, which means the standard Leaf is likely to cost just over £22,000. However, the current Leaf comes in several different trim levels, so you can expect the new Leaf to cost anything from £22,000 to £30,000 depending on the model you want.
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