Brian Maragno, Nissan’s director of EV marketing and sales, released some details about the upcoming 2019 LEAF while speaking at a press event regarding Nissan’s involvement in Formula E racing recently. The current version of the car has the new body style (which is a big improvement over the original) but retains the older car’s 40 kWh battery, 142 horsepower motor, and so-so 150 mile range.
2018 Nissan LEAF
Maragno said the 2019 LEAF will have a larger battery, and while everyone is assuming it will be 60 kWh, there has been no official confirmation of that. The car will feature an ‘E-Plus’ badge and will have a more powerful 200 horsepower motor. Maragno added that the larger battery simply makes it possible to have more power since the more robust motor would drain the smaller battery at a quicker rate.
According to a report in AutoGuide, Maragno said, “When you have a bigger battery with more capacity, it just opens up the door to be able to have more output,” he said. “A larger capacity battery lends itself towards two things. One is obvious: more range. The other one, which is maybe a little less obvious, but equally as true, is additional horsepower and output.”
In terms of range, most people are assuming 200+ miles, but that figure has not been confirmed by Nissan. If the battery is 50% larger, shouldn’t range be 50% more, all other factors being equal? The best anyone can say is the E-Plus should have at least 200 miles of range. Nissan is being coy about when the new car will be on sale. We know it will be sold as a 2019 model but no official release date has been disclosed by the company. It could appear as early as this fall or as late as next spring.
Maragno had lots to say about Nissan’s involvement in Formula E racing, however. “I mean, think about it. 320,000 cars globally, it’s quite a bit. So we’ve learned a ton. When I talk about the competitive edge that gives us, the competitive drive, we have a lot to bring to the table. So it’s really an exciting type of venture for us to get into because we think we could do really, really well with it. And of course it helps round out the EV ecosystem for us. It’s another piece of the puzzle if you will. It represents what we’ve been doing for a long time.” The Nissan LEAF first appeared in 2010.
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast:
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
