While the eyes of those keeping tabs on the electric car market might be prone to focusing on the dedicated e-vehicle manufacturers like Tesla, one cannot be ignorant of some makers of automobiles that run on petroleum and similar fuels have also made significant inroads in designing electronic cars themselves. One car brand in particular is Nissan, which introduced their Leaf electric hatchback in 2010. This first-generation e-car from Nissan had four distinct year models before Nissan brought out the Generation 2 Leaf in 2017. Now, a longer-range variant of this current Leaf model has been unveiled just this week.
USA Today tells us that Nissan made a preview of the new long-range Leaf electric hatchback during the opening day of the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, on Tuesday January 8. Depending on the market the e-vehicle will be called the Nissan Leaf e+ in Japan and most other markets, or simply the Leaf Plus in Canada and the US where the Japanese car manufacturer hopes to make it available at dealerships in the coming spring. It is Nissan’s hope that increasing the total running range of the Leaf will help it expand in interested buyers from commuters to a more general base.
In comparison with the base model Nissan Leaf generation 2, the Leaf Plus will have its ranged increased by 40 percent, for a total of 226 miles on a single full charge of its electric battery. In short, it can run three times as long as the original Leaf rolled out almost ten years ago. Remarkably, the more capable battery aside, everything else about the Leaf Plus is the same as the base model. Its hatchback size is comparable to Tesla’s Model 3 sedan, and other e-vehicles like the Chevrolet Bolt and the Hyundai Kona.
During its presentation of the Leaf Plus on the CES, Nissan did not quote any price range for it, though it may perhaps be upped slightly from the basic model’s price tag of $29,990 barring tax incentives. That is actually easier on the budget for e-vehicles compared to the current situation of the Tesla Model 3, which is still not quite there to releasing its bare-bones $35,000 basic version and instead producing more units with all the price-hiking extra features.
Image courtesy of Woodfield Nissan
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