Nissan’s Leaf has just been unveiled in Japan. The good news, however, is Nissan’s promise to bringing the Leaf to India. And now with the Indian government trying to get only electric cars on the road by 2030, the plan just got real.
The Leaf has had a lot more technology added to it, compared to the older car and it gets a bump up in range too – it can now go 400 km on a single charge, which takes about 16 hours with a household connection (3 kW) or 8 hours with a high-power connection (6 kW).
Nissan had showcased the earlier Leaf in 2014 in India, but the new Leaf has a better built. It comes with 38% more power, putting out 110 kW or 147 bhp of power and 26% more torque at 320 Nm.
Add to that, the Leaf gets three new features that makes it fall in line with future electric car needs. The first being e-Pedal. The e-Pedal allows for single-pedal driving in normal traffic conditions. Basically, one has to press the accelerator pedal to move forward and when you lift off the pedal, it automatically brakes and can come to a standstill. You still have to use the regular brake pedal if you want to brake harder.
Then there is Pro-Pilot or a sort of adaptive cruise control, with certain automated driving features. With Pro-Pilot engaged between 30 kmph and 100 kmph, the Leaf can follow the car in front of it autonomously, and can even steer and maintain lanes. It can even come to a complete stop if the car ahead of it stops.
Like other automated parking systems, now even the Nissan Leaf gets a Pro-Pilot Park feature, which not only steers into a parking space, but also controls the accelerator, brake and drive modes. It’s a completely driver-free parking system.
Other features include LED lighting and Nissan’s Connect infotainment system.
The Leaf runs on Lithium ion batteries and has been completely redesigned to look sharper and less bulbous than the previous Leaf. It is a hatchback that can seat five adults.
It is likely to be priced at Rs 30 lakh if it comes to India, slightly lower than the estimated price of the Tesla Model 3, which should be unveiled in India by 2019.
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