Nissan is set to take part in the upcoming Consumer
Electronics Show (CES) next month in Las Vegas, and the automaker aims to focus
on Nissan Intelligent Mobility, which includes a showcase of its connected
system, a fully integrated electric vehicle ecosystem, and several car debuts.
More importantly, Nissan seems to be teasing the
arrival of the much anticipated longer-range Leaf, reportedly fitted with a
larger 60 kWh battery pack, up from the existing 40 kWh. According to leaked
information revealed by electrek, the bigger battery pack will improve the
driving range considerably, up from the current 241 km to 362 km.
A new 160 kW electric motor and 11 to 22 kW onboard
charger are also tipped to make their way into the Leaf, and the new battery
pack, which is reportedly equipped with thermal management system, will be
supplied by LG Chem instead of AESC (Nissan’s battery cell subsidiary company).
More importantly, all those changes could enable a new DC fast-charging rate of
about 100 kW, up from the current 50 kW.
Performance is also said to improve – the
Leaf E-Plus can supposedly sprint from zero to 100 km/h in 6.5 seconds, which
is a full two seconds quicker than the standard Leaf. Besides the long-range Leaf,
Nissan will also debut its all-new, twin electric motor, all-wheel drive Nissan
Leaf Nismo RC racing machine and the IMx Kuro concept crossover electric
vehicle.
