The 2019 Nissan Leaf goes on sale at 89 dealers nationally from August 1, making that the largest electric vehicle network in the country.
The 40kWh version launched this week in Australia (a 62kWh one is coming) is one of the most affordable EVs at $49,990, plus on road costs, and has bidirectional charging capability which allows it to power the home.
The vehicle-to-home (V2H) charging capability means that, in future, Nissan Leaf customers in Australia will be able to use the vehicle to share energy stored in its battery with their home, business or even community.
V2H could be ready in about six months and helps provide emergency back-up power for up to two days.
Nissan says it is working with charging partners both locally and internationally, as well as various stakeholders in the energy, academic, government and business sectors to realise the benefit of this technology for Australian consumers.
“As the pioneer of electric vehicles globally, the new fully electric Nissan Leaf represents the future of Australian motoring,” Nissan Australia managing director Stephen Lester says.
“We are expecting to see a spike in EV sales in Australia and Nissan is best placed to look after electric vehicle buyers long after they’ve made their purchase.”
Lester says the new Leaf is technologically advanced and has about 270km range.
Available in a single high-spec grade, the Leaf has a contemporary exterior and interior design, an eight-inch touchscreen display, seven-inch advanced drive assist display, satellite navigation, a heated steering wheel, heated front and rear leather-accented^ seats and space for five people.
An. e-Pedal allows drivers to start, accelerate, decelerate, stop and hold the car by using the accelerator pedal alone without needing to use the brakes. It also features an auto-hold function.
The Leaf has a maximum five-star safety rating from the Australian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).
Safety features include intelligent emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic alert, lane departure warning, intelligent lane intervention and intelligent forward collision warning as standard equipment.
It also has intelligent around-view monitor with moving object detection, intelligent cruise control, intelligent driver alert, front and rear parking sensors, six SRS airbags, vehicle dynamic control with traction control system, ISOFIX and three top tether child restraint anchor points, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The battery puts out 110kW of power and 320Nm of torque, providing instant acceleration.
It can be fully charged within 24 hours using a standard home wall socket, and the time drops to 7.5 hours if the latest 7kW home charger is used.
Plugging into a Chademo rapid charger gets from alert to 80% charge in around an hour.
A collaboration with Jet Charge will assist customers with home charging infrastructure needs, and via a partnership with Chargefox Nissan hopes to help increase charging awareness and ready the country for the impending spike in EV sales.
Chargefox aims to have more than 100 DC fast chargers in place by the end of the year, along with a national network of 22 ultra-rapid chargers forming a network connecting Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide.
Available for pre-sale now, the new Leaf is available in Arctic white, ivory pearl with black roof, magnetic red, pearl black, platinum and gun metallic.
The Leaf has just received a gold Good Design Award in the product design category in recognition for outstanding design and innovation.
Are they taking no hints from Tesla’s lead? The days of trying unsuccessfully to sell low performing EVs that look like shopping trolleys are over. Nissan started like that and hasn’t progressed at all. Get it together Nissan!