The Nissan Leaf has
been launched in Thailand, unveiled at the ongoing Thailand International Motor
Expo 2018. The second-generation electric car goes for 1.99 million baht in the Land of Smiles and deliveries will begin from March 2019.
Measuring in at
4,480 mm long, 1,790 mm wide and 1,540 mm tall, the new Leaf features
significant gains in performance and range over the first-gen model, with the
car’s EM57 electric motor now producing 38% more power and 26% more torque at 148 hp and 320 Nm respectively.
A 40 kWh
lithium-ion battery increases the operating range to around 400 km (378 km on a
NEDC test cycle) from the 195 km – and later, 250 km – of the original. In
terms of charging, the automaker quotes eight hours for a full charge drawing
current from a six kW source, and double that time from a three kW source.
There’s also quick charging, with up to 80% fill in 40 minutes via the CHAdeMO
charging socket. The max AC charge rate is 6.6 kW, or 50 kW with DC quick
charge.
Tech novelties
include ProPILOT single-lane autonomous driving tech, which can automatically
control the distance of the car to the vehicle in front using a speed preset by
the driver (between 30 km/h and 100 km/h), while steering and keeping itself
centered in its lane. It also does braking to a complete stop and resuming
movement too, much like the low-speed follow function in Honda’s Sensing suite.
Aside from ProPILOT
park, there’s also e-Pedal, which provides the simplicity of starting,
accelerating, decelerating, stopping and holding the car in position by using
the accelerator pedal alone. The Leaf is equipped with six airbags (front, side
and curtain) and a Nissan Safety Shield system, which includes intelligent lane
intervention, lane departure warning, intelligent emergency braking, blind spot
warning, traffic sign recognition, rear cross traffic alert, intelligent around
view monitor and emergency assist for pedal misapplication.
