Nissan has sold more than 420,000 units globally, selling around 10,000 a month, since first launching the vehicle almost a decade ago. This makes the LEAF the most successful EV (for now).
The second generation of the LEAF is available for pre-order now and will be available in Australia from August 1st, 2019. This morning we learned that some of the first Aussies to pre-order will actually take delivery later this month.
Ahead of the release, I had the opportunity to get behind the wheel of Nissan’s latest production EV and can now run you through that experience.
The Drive
Unfortunately, the drive impressions from today are currently under embargo until Friday. Check back this to read my thoughts on how the new Nissan Leaf drives, handles and performs.
Update
Now the embargo has dropped, I decided to dedicate a whole post to the driving impressions, you can take a read here.
What I can offer you is a clip from Nissan that shows the car driving Aussie streets.
Design
The first LEAF made a statement, it was intentionally different to let everyone know you were being green. I feel the second generation, that gets toned down and the LEAF could easily pass as a regular hatchback. This design direction should appeal to more people, however it’s still not a sporty or aggressive look, or even a futuristic design that many are after.
If I had to sum up the design of the new LEAF, it’s a design for 2019, it looks fine on our roads, but if you were to keep this car for 10 years, I do worry that it’ll date quickly.
Performance
The new Leaf steps up the power output, thanks to a bigger battery, moving from 80kw and 280Nm of torque up to 110kW of power and 320Nm of torque.
Technology
Nissan’s ADAS technology stack is known as Intelligent Mobility which includes the following safety technologies:
- Intelligent Around-View Monitor
- Intelligent Driver Alertness
- Predictive Forward Collision Warning
- Intelligent Emergency Braking (with pedestrian detection)
- Intelligent Lane Intervention
- Intelligent Cruise Control
- Intelligent Trace Control
- Intelligent Ride Control
- Rear Cross Traffic Alert
- Lane Departure Warning
- e-Pedal
The car also features Apple CarPlay and Android Auto Support.
One neat trick the Nissan LEAF has is bi-directional charging, vehicle-to-home technology can feed charge back into the grid to power your home or business. Imagine seeing your neighbours houses in darkness during a blackout, while your house continues happily because you have a LEAF in the garage.
Nissan is currently undergoing testing in Australia for this technology and expects that the necessary regulatory and safety checks will make this a reality inside the next 12 months.
Recharging and Range
Nissan have fitted the LEAF with a 40kWh Battery up from the 24kWh battery found in the first-gen LEAF. While this is a smaller capacity battery when compared to some other EVs on the market, but it is important to remember, this small car is lighter.
Nissan say the car is good for 270km of real-world driving, calculated using the WLTP standard. When we got in today, the car had 261km of range showing on the dash.
When you run out of electronics, you’ll need to find your way to a CHAdeMO charger, which Nissan points you to the Plugshare app to find the locations of. The car is capable of charging in 60 minutes on quick charge, or at home would take a full 24 hours if charging from empty.
It is worthwhile remembering you’ll almost never get down to zero (long road trips being the exception). Most owners would plug in each night spend a couple of dollars on charging and have more than enough for their daily commute.
Price
In Victoria, the Nissan LEAF is available for between A$54,394 and $55,426 driveaway, depending on the options you select.
The car is available in 6 colour combinations – Ivory Pearl (white) with Pearl Black roof, Magnetic Red, Gun Metallic (dark grey), Pearl Black, Platinum and Arctic White.
