Nissan Leaf Revealed With Extended Range & Autonomous Tech

Nissan has unveiled the second-generation Nissan Leaf in Japan.

Updated: Wednesday, September 6, 2017, 16:53 [IST]

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Nissan has unveiled the second-generation of its electric car, the Nissan Leaf, in Japan. The new Nissan Leaf features a new design, advanced autonomous features, and an upgraded range compared to its predecessor.

The first generation of the Nissan Leaf was the first electric car to have mass-market appeal, with the Japanese carmaker shipping out more than 2,83,000 units worldwide since its launch in 2010.

The new Nissan Leaf's electric motor puts out 148bhp and 320Nm of torque, an upgrade of 40bhp and 66Nm more than the previous Leaf. This also results in a 10 percent decrease in the time the Leaf takes to sprint from 0-100kph.

The motor draws power from a 40kWh battery pack (up from 30kWh) which is good for 379 kilometers on a single charge. A more energy-dense battery pack will make its way to the new leaf in the next 18 months, which will up the range to 500 kilometers on a single charge.

The 40kWh battery takes 40 minutes to charge up to 80 percent using a fast charger, though a full charge through a regular charger still takes eight hours.

The new Nissan Leaf's design is inspired by the IDS concept which also provided the basis for the new Nissan Micra that debuted at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show. The Leaf sports a sharper nose highlighted by Nissan's V-motion grille which is flanked by LED headlights on either side. The rear end looks more like a traditional hatchback with the Boomerang tail lights the major design feature.

The new Leaf Sports autonomous driving techProPilot autonomous system that combines stop-and-go dynamic cruise control with lane-keeping technology and does most of the acceleration, braking and steering work for the driver. the system is currently capable of driving in one lane, and multi-lane autonomous driving tech will arrive in 2019, with Nissan expecting the Leaf to negotiate city traffic by 2020.

The ProPilot system also features automatic parking, which allows the Leaf to manoeuvre itself into a parking space by using a combination of 12 sonar sensors and four cameras.

The new Leaf, also gets Nissan's e-Pedal technology, which allows the car to be driven using just one pedal, a world first. The e-Pedal tech increases regenerative braking to four times the level seen in engine braking on current internal combustion cars and will even hold the car on a steep incline.

The new Nissan Leaf will go on sale in Japan from October 2, 2017, and is expected to come to India in 2018.

DriveSpark Thinks!

The new Nissan Leaf gets a bold new design along with a denser battery pack for more range and crazy one-pedal driving tech which will help it appeal to even more people than before. Considering, how well the first-gen Leaf was able to find new homes, Nissan may just have a Tesla Model 3 beater on its hands.