Nissan has confirmed that a longer-range version of
the all-electric hatchback, allegedly dubbed Leaf E-Plus, is coming our way,
without, however, providing a time schedule. Buried within a press release
announcing pricing details on the 2019 model year Leaf is a single line that
announces the model. “A longer-range version will be available in the future,”
it reads.
The latest-generation Leaf is offered
exclusively with a 40 kWh battery pack that allows for a range of 241 km between charges. That’s significantly less than the Tesla Model 3 Long
Range, which has an EPA-rated range of 500 km.
While Nissan hasn’t said how much larger the battery
pack of the longer-range version will be, sources say that it will utilize a 60
kWh pack complete with active thermal management. This new battery pack will
apparently be enough to up the vehicle’s range to roughly 362 km.
While still short of the Model 3, that’s enough for most everyday driving scenarios.
As Nissan used a press release about the 2019 Leaf
to confirm the long-range variant, it seems highly unlikely this new variant
will be introduced for the 2019 model year. Instead, it is much more likely we
will see it launch in the second half of 2019 as a 2020 model.
As for the existing 2019 Leaf, it starts from a
reasonable US$ 30,795, including a US$ 895 destination and handling fee. The
range-topping SL model is priced from Us$ 37,095. Alongside the aforementioned 40
kWh battery pack, the 2019 Leaf features an electric motor delivering 147 hp
and 236 lb-ft of torque.
