The first Leaf got less than 100 miles of range. The current Leaf gets 150. Today at CES Nissan unveiled a 226-mile Leaf called the “e+.”
“The ‘e+’ refers to the increased energy density of the new model’s 62 kWh battery pack and the higher output of its powertrain,” Nissan said in a statement. “The new powertrain adds to the car’s range by approximately 40 percent, with EPA-estimated range of up to 226 miles, ensuring that there’s a Nissan LEAF to meet the driving needs of a wider range of customers.”
That’s a polite way of saying that competitors get over 200 miles of range and Nissan finally caught up. The first Leaf had a 24 kWh battery and the 2018 model has a 40-kWh battery.
While the car shown at CES was called e+, it will be known in the U.S. and Canada as the Leaf PLUS Series, with models S PLUS, SV PLUS and SL PLUS. It goes on sale in Japan this month, but U.S. sales won’t begin until spring.
The e+ – or PLUS – will also have a more powerful 160-kW (215 hp) motor driving the front wheels, which is 45 percent more than the current Leaf. Torque will be 250 lb ft in the new powertrain. Acceleration will be quicker, with passing from 50 to 70 mph 13 percent quicker than before. Nissan did not release a 0-60 figure, but it should be better than the current model’s 7.4 seconds. Top speed is also up, by 10 percent in the PLUS. The current model tops out at 93 mph, so adding 9.3 to 93 gives us 102.3 mph.
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