Many years ago, back when full-on electric cars were rare oddities, I drove an early first-generation Nissan Leaf in power-sapping Eco mode. It was, to this day, the slowest vehicle I have ever driven. The driver of a 1980s Tercel with a three-speed automatic could have handed me my ass in a stoplight drag race.
That was then, and this is now. The second-gen Leaf, which bowed for 2018, offers buyers 142 horsepower and a generous helping of low-end electric grunt to go with their 151 miles of range. But there’s another beast arriving for 2019 that should satisfy those looking for more miles and more horses.
According to AutoGuide, the long-awaited long-range version of the Leaf won’t just go the distance — it’ll do so in a much swifter manner.
Said to possess over 200 miles of all-electric driving range, the Leaf gains an E-Plus variant for 2019, which means additional power. Some 58 extra ponies, Nissan says. Speaking at a Formula E event, Brian Maragno, Nissan’s director of EV Marketing and Sales Strategy, said the Leaf E-Plus will arrive with 200 hp on tap. The extra output is the product of not having to worry about draining a considerably smaller battery.
“A larger capacity battery lends itself towards two things — one is obvious — more range,” said Maragno. “The other one, which is maybe a little less obvious, but equally as true, is additional horsepower and output.”
The new variant should join the stock 40 kWh model in the Nissan line late this year or early next, allowing the automaker to properly challenge Chevrolet’s Bolt and Tesla’s Model 3. Whether or not the upgraded Leaf also arrives in performance-minded NISMO form remains to be seen.
“We haven’t made any announcements in the U.S. relative to a Nismo version of the car, so who knows what will happen, but there’s really no announcement there,” Maragno said.
Leaf sales fell to a trickle during the changeover period between the two models, a period spanning last October through this January. Because of this, year-to-date volume shows a decline of 8.1 percent. Still, the new generation didn’t result in a large uptick in sales once a critical mass of vehicles made it to dealer lots. June volume fell 9.2 percent, year over year.
[Image: © 2017 Matthew Guy/TTAC]
A 40% bump in hp is nothing to sneeze at. There’ll be a lot of early trade-ins on 2018s.
Full-page coverup ads on the home page that constantly pop back up and have to be closed 5 times, combined with a broken log-in system, are a quick way to lose readership. Keep ads on the sides and don’t force me off here.
+1. What’s going on here?
I noticed the page-cover ads (without a close or X) too. Maybe they fixed it coincidentally, but refreshing my Adblock filters seemed to do the trick.
In other words, the Leaf is finally catching up to the Bolt’s battery capacity, range, and power.
@Steph – You’re unfairly comparing apples and oranges. The Gen 1 Leaf could do 0-60 in 10 seconds; nobody drove it in Eco mode from a standstill. My 12 Leaf never felt slow off the line.
Bravo, Leaf! And it’s also catching up with the outgoing Ford C-max Energi, which claimed 195 combined HP.
But without the unholy racket of the efficient, but coarse, Atkinson-cycle 2.0L. The C-Max has 95 hp in EV mode, which is fine at around-town speeds but very poky on the freeway.
Intriguing. This will make the Leaf a worthy competitor to the Bolt, and probably also make the Leaf as expensive as the Bolt.
Yup the E-plus trim level will absolutely come with higher cost since the biggest line item in an EV is the battery.
Ticketing non- electric vehicles parked in charging spots is one more thing our very busy police will not be able to do. Sorry about that.