“We are the leading electric vehicle manufacturer.”
Japanese automotive marque Nissan is still riding on an electric high, after launching its second-generation Leaf electric vehicle last year to great fanfare and critical acclaim. While the Leaf was an oddity when it first debuted in 2010, in the last eight years the electric vehicle market has hotted up considerably, with players like Tesla redefining the segment in its entirety, while other mass-market marques intend to muscle in on the EV space due to ever-tightening emissions regulations.
But Nissan is confident that the second-generation Leaf will retain its crown of being the single most popular electric vehicle in the world.
“We’ve sold more than 350,000 electric cars around the world. We are the leading electric vehicle manufacturer globally — we’ve sold more than anyone else. The Leaf is already the world’s best-selling electric vehicle and with this new version, we’re very, very confident that we are going to maintain that position and keep going with a fantastic product.” — Nicholas Thomas, Director (EV Division), Nissan
Some 3.9-billion kilometres have been covered by 300,000 Leaf hatchbacks and 50,000 e-NV200 electric vans in the last eight years. The two EVs will be joined by 12 new EVs come 2022, coming from across the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi Alliance.
It won’t be easy for Nissan (or the greater Alliance) to keep its crown as the biggest EV manufacturer though. German concern Volkswagen has its I.D. electric hatch arriving in 2020 (and the larger VW Group aims to have 3-million electric vehicles on the road by 2025). Toyota has 10 EVs planned between now and 2025 too, while Ford intends to get 16 EVs in the next four years.
The new Leaf brings with it not only new technology, but a new design direction for the electric hatchback. Under the skin lies an electric motor hooked up to 40kWh worth of batteries, capable of providing 110kW and 320Nm, along with a driving range of up to 400km on a single charge (according to Japanese testing standards).
The Nissan Leaf is expected to make landfall in Australia very soon, so stay tuned to CarShowroom as we bring you updates as they come.
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