Nissan Leaf with 62 kWh battery now up for order

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Nissan presented the Leaf with a larger battery at the CES 2019 as expected. Officially called Nissan Leaf 3.ZERO e+, the electric car features the long awaited 60+ kWh battery and can now be ordered from €46,500. Deliveries in Europe will start in summer 2019 yet in limited numbers.

Very limited in fact, given the Leaf is Nissan’s (if not the world’s) best selling electric car with Nissan claiming to have sold over 380,000 units globally since the launch in 2010. Despite these encouraging numbers, the Japanese company have allocated Europe no more than 5,000 units this year. Sales in Japan however, will start within weeks and buyers in the U.S. may expect to get their hands on the new Leaf with the bigger battery from spring. In the U.S. it will be called the Leaf Plus series.

In detail, the more powerful Leaf is now powered by a 160 kW electric motor with a torque of 340 Nm. The top speed has increased by 10 per cent and the Japanese company estimates the car’s range at up to 385 kilometres (WLTP).

Most importantly, the new battery size has been set at a final 62 kWh. This means that the energy density has increased by 25 per cent and the storage capacity by 55 per cent compared to the 40 kWh version, translating to a 40% range increase.

Instead of 192 cells, the larger battery consists of 288 cells. Still, the size of the battery pack has remained almost the same (+5mm). The Leaf 3.Zero and Leaf 3.Zero e+ limited edition batteries have the same eight-year/160,000 km Nissan warranty that one can expect with all versions of the little Nissan EV.

For charging capacity, Nissan specifies 70 kW with 100kW peak, still via CHAdeMo. This obviously sets the electric car apart from current market trends, both in charging speeds as well as charging standard with CCS gaining ever more ground.

Moreover, our exclusive report regarding the lack of liquid cooling of the new battery has also been confirmed. The lack of such active heat dissipation had already led to the issue known as Rapidgate on social media. Back then, already the battery generation with 40 kWh exhibited problems with repeated DC charging, especially in hot climates.

Concerning the 40 kWh standard version: Nissan offers the Leaf with a smaller battery as a special model, the 3.ZERO, for 40,300 euros. This version features a new infotainment system including an 8-inch touch screen that enables additional connectivity services such as door-to-door navigation. The NissanConnect EV App has also been revised.

The Nissan Leaf model year 2019 can now be ordered from dealers. However, in addition to the new Leaf3.Zero e+ model, there have also been some changes to the basic model, which has less equipment (ZE1) and is no longer available for 31,950 euros. This new base range starts at 36,800 euros, which corresponds to the previous Leaf Acenta.

A final word on positioning: Nissan has come up with a fine proposition for mass market here, given there won’t be any issues with the battery. However, the relatively slow charge rate and long warranty is designed for a long cell life. Whether they will eventually switch to CCS for charging is another matter though. Yet, the V2G capability deserves mentioning and has reportedly been approved to officially feed the grid in Germany. Also in terms of pricing, Nissan stays well below the Tesla Model 3. The Chevy Bolt and Hyundai Kona are comparable, however, Nissan looks back at a longer tradition of selling their electric car.

nissannews.com

Additional reporting Nora Manthey

4 Comments

about „Nissan Leaf with 62 kWh battery now up for order“
David Radzieta
11.01.2019 um 21:23
Great news about the LEAF. Its a great family car and people will love them all over the world. When you pick your EV try to find one that goes twice your daily commute, then you have plenty of range for AC, heat and extra errands. For example, my 2012 LEAF has a 75 mile range when new and my daily commute is 38 miles, I drive a bit more than most people. I think the car will last a lifetime, it is perfect for that application. The New LEAF has a 151 or 226 mile ePlus range. That is awesome you could do some regional commuting in that car. If you are a multicar family one of them probably should already be an electric vehicle. Lots of models to choose from now and Carvana and CarMax can even ship the cars to you. The biggest mistake EV owners make is they buy a 75 mile car say for a 65 mile commute then they blame the car when they do not have enough range for heat, or AC, or the battery fades after a few years. If you do not use your EV 0-100% everyday the battery should last a long long long long long time. 20-80% charge range is considered the LION sweet spot and it can 2x to 4x your battery warranty period. Enjoy! I am, I no longer put $75 in my truck every week.
Steve Emsley
05.03.2019 um 18:40
Thanks David. Our 2015 leaf with 24 kWh battery still does over 80 miles, but is only rarely used for longer journeys. However we are planning a longer break over 200 miles away. Using Zap-Map, we planned out routes and have found places to charge. It’s important to not overstretch a days driving, as chargers could be busy, and it could get to be a long day. A Welsh eco B and B advertises 3 electric chargers and looks great. So no need to have huge battery pack.
Michael
15.04.2019 um 13:09
The problem still is that they only have CHADEMO charger for full speed charging. They are right, 'cause they were first, but they got owned by EU-laws. The future is CSS. Nissan should accept that.
Jeffrey Brooks
26.12.2020 um 01:32
Electric mobility

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