From late 2015, a new battery pack boasting a 30kW output and a 155-mile range will be available on the Nissan Leaf. The new output will cost around £1,600 more than the 24kW output, and will only be available on the Acenta and Tekna trim.
Increased power and range
.jpg "Nissan Leaf 30kW")
Range anxiety is one of the challenges turning buyers away from electric vehicles, but Nissan has taken steps to increase the appeal of its best-selling electric car, the Nissan Leaf, by offering a version with an extended range of 155 miles – 32 miles better than the standard 123 miles.
But this increase in range hasn’t had a negative impact on the power, which has also been increased 25 percent from 24kW to 30kW. The chemistry behind the improvements is very complicated, but new materials have been added to the electrodes to improve the efficiency and processing speed.
“Nissan are the pioneers of the mass production electric vehicle segment”, explained Gareth Dunsmore, Director of Nissan Electric Vehicles.
“Already, we’ve benefitted from over a billion miles of research, testing and customer feedback, and it’s from this that we’ve decided to launch the higher output battery”.
Other amendments
The alterations weren’t just confined to the battery, either. From next year, Acenta and Tekna trim models will receive a NissanConnect EV infotainment system, which replaces the previous Carwings system.
While, fundamentally, the interface of the NissanConnect EV isn’t too difference to Carwings, there are new features like the availability of charging points on the maps application, a car finder facility and maintenance alerts.
NissanConnect EV also boasts a much simplified activation process which allows users to flick through menus by swiping their finger on the new seven-inch display. There is also a new roof mounted aerial and a new colour option (bronze).
Summary
Sold in conjunction with the standard 24kW output from December 2015, the 30kW battery is only available on the Acenta and Tekna models and priced from £24,490 – so around £1,600 more. Nissan is certainly confident in its new invention, and is backing it with an extended warranty of up to eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.
