Nissan Australia is keeping pricing on the 2019 Leaf a tightly-guarded secret, even from the country’s biggest EV enthusiasts.
Attendees of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA) Expo in Brisbane asked the company directly about what the next generation Leaf will set buyers back in mid-2019 when it goes on sale.
Nissan’s head of electrification and future mobility Wayne Harris, who is also a board member of the Electric Vehicle Council, was asked directly as part of a Q&A panel on Friday what price point the Leaf would be in and what prospective sales figures the company is expecting.
“The price is yet to be announced,” Harris replied right at the end of the session.
“And we can’t comment on sales figures at this stage,” he adds.
Despite Nissan Australia telling EVtalk that fleet buyers will be an essential part of the Leaf’s sales success, with numerous Queensland and inter-state councils represented in the circa-300 strong crowd, the asking price remains a mystery.
“We have over 10,000 people who’ve registered their interest,” and reiterates the new Leaf will begin rolling into 98 dealership showrooms from early 2019,” Harris says.
Another asked about how the Chargefox-supplied in-home charging hardware will be bundled with the new Leaf.
“We’ll be working on a number of things to hopefully make packaging simple for the consumer, and we’re yet to announce how we’ll do that,” Harris adds.
Harris says Nissan’s dealer footprint will “effectively create the biggest EV support networks in Australia, and that includes metro and provincial dealers”.
Another audience member asked what effect the bi-directional charging feature would have on the Leaf’s battery warranty.
“None,” Harris says.
“It’s paramount that we look after the battery in that process, and it’s been designed to handle that concept.”
Leaked Hyundai Ioniq pricing suggests the top-spec pure-electric version will be around $45,000 retail, before on-road costs.
Another start-up EV manufacturer building plastic electric vehicles in Australia called ACE says it’s ute-design EV will also cost around the $40,000-$45,000 mark.
Nissan Australia was a sponsor of the AEVA Expo and the Leaf on display drew strong interest from delegates during breaks. Other vehicles on popular display included the Renault Zoe and Kangoo, and Hyundai e-Kona.
The Oil Industry is done , They are at the beginning of their demise just look at the stock market, Most thinking people are hoping for a number of manufacturers to just go for it and produce production cars which will have the range of 400 + Klms , There’s a genuine free market out there called the sleeping giant, Nissan would be wise to exploit a very ripe Australian Market with the right price with the right range
Wouldn’t you just be looking at the existing overseas markets for a price indication? And if ZOE is any indication then it will be around the AUD$50k mark (for current 40kWh based on UK spec).
So Leaf is US$29k to US$36k, so you know it’s got to be at least AUD$40k to AUD$50k depending on trim level, then start adding taxes and other charges. 60kWh hasn’t even been announced yet, so bigger battery and active thermal management means it will probably be more expensive.
Exciting times ahead.