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Nissan has launched a longer-range version of its best-selling Leaf electric vehicle, as it fights growing competition in the electric car market.
The new Leaf can travel about 50% further on a single charge than its predecessor, according to the firm.
But it still falls short of the ranges offered by other recent electric cars from Tesla and General Motors.
Other updates include a new one-pedal driving system, auto-parking tech and a more modern design.
More than 283,000 Leaf cars have been sold since the Japanese firm launched the brand in 2010, making it the world's most purchased electric car.
[...] The new Leaf, on sale in Japan from October and elsewhere early next year, has a longer range thanks to a bigger 40 kilowatt hour (kWh) battery.
(Score: 5, Informative) by hemocyanin on Thursday September 07 2017, @05:41AM (3 children)
I bought a used Leaf a couple years ago. I've never loved a car so much. I live about 22 miles from my work and my 2012 model, with the smallest battery, serves me just fine. I can go to work, run some errands afterwards, come home, and still have 30+ miles to spare. I have a 220v charger and it'll charge it up for another run in about 2.5 hours. At 4.6 miles per kwHr, I can drive 23 miles for about 60 cents -- and that's not hypermiling, I love stomping on the "gas" -- it's got some real zip to it and yet it's so quiet.
Yes - it won't work for every single use case, and in my family the other vehicle is gas powered, but it's maybe twice per month most of the year that I want to use that one (more in the autumn/winter when I travel rough and sometimes snowy logging roads). If I could get one with reasonable clearance, 4wd, and a 200 mile range, there would be no use case where I'd need, or want, a gas powered vehicle. As it is though, the old short-range Leaf covers at least 95% of the miles I drive.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Thursday September 07 2017, @01:19PM (1 child)
That's my brother's experience as well, except his EV is a BMW i3. He keeps a Subaru wagon for the 1-2 times a year he does a longer roadtrip. The i3 has a range extender to give him an extra 50 miles on the generator as insurance, but he almost never needs it. He said he filled up the 2 gallon tank last fall and still has most of it.
He lives in Michigan, BTW, so it gets plenty cold with lots of snow, but it doesn't slow him down much.
I enjoyed the Leaf when I test drove it a few years ago, but have been holding out for a Tesla. That company just seems to get the future of transportation, and I want in on that for the ancillary benefits it brings as much as for the car itself.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 09 2017, @02:24AM
One tip though, remember to burn that gas or add a stabilizer to it. A friend of mine had his fuel system go bad for letting the gas in his plug-in hybrid sit too long.
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Thursday September 07 2017, @02:41PM
I drive a Leaf, and it fits my use case very well.
But the world is moving on to EVs that are suitable for long journeys.