As promised, Nissan has today officially unveiled the LEAF, the world’s first affordable, zero-emission car.
The Nissan LEAF is a medium-sized hatchback which can comfortably accommodate five adults with a range of more than 160km which should satisfy the daily driving requirements of more than 70 per cent of the world’s consumers who drive cars, according to Nissan.
Designed specifically for a lithium-ion battery-powered chassis, the LEAF is slated for launch in late 2010 in Japan, the US and Europe with Australian sales expected to follow in 2012.
“Nissan LEAF is a tremendous accomplishment – one in which all Nissan employees can take great pride,” said Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn.
“We have been working tirelessly to make this day a reality – the unveiling of a real-world car that has zero – not simply reduced – emissions.
“It’s the first step in what is sure to be an exciting journey – for people all over the world, for Nissan and for the industry,” he said.
While pricing is yet to be announced, affordability will play a vital role in the LEAF’s success, with Nissan expecting it to be priced in the range of a well-equipped C-segment vehicle.
The price will also vary dramatically in different markets where it may qualify for an array of significant local, regional and national tax breaks and incentives in countries around the world.
The laminated compact lithium-ion batteries powering the LEAF generate peak output of more than 90kW, while its electric motor delivers 80kW and 280Nm.
The batteries can be charged to 80 per cent of their full capacity in just under 30 minutes with a quick charger, while a conventional 200V socket should take approximately eight hours.
“Our car had to be the world’s first, medium-size, practical EV that motorists could afford and would want to use every day, and that’s what we’ve created,” said Masato INOUE, Product Chief Designer.
“The styling will identify not only Nissan LEAF but also the owner as a participant in the new era of zero-emission mobility.”
The Nissan LEAF will also employ an exclusive advanced IT system connected to a global data centre to provide continuous support, information, and entertainment for drivers.
A dash-mounted monitor displays the LEAF’s remaining power and “reachable area” as well as showing a selection of nearby charging stations.
Mobile phone integration also allows the air-conditioning to be activated remotely and set charging functions while an on-board remote-controlled timer can also be pre-programmed to recharge batteries.
Nissan LEAF is a critical first step in establishing the era of zero-emission mobility; however, Nissan recognizes that internal-combustion engine (ICE) technologies will play a vital role in global transportation for decades to come.
I think it looks great, so different for an environmentally friendly vehicle. Not Prius or Insight like at all. Well done Nissan.
Not a fan of the front end but the overall vehicle is alot more attractive than the mangled Tiida. I think Nissan still has a future in compact vehicles, and there persuit of providing an affordable electric vehicle put them in good steed for the future
Is that the new Pulsar [aka ex Tiida] under their?
Whats the point of a compact car that costs $50k+
Waste of time till it can be sold for $20k
i reckon this is the new pulsar though the pulsar will be sportier ad have a grill. plus this is also my favourite electric car after the telsa model s
also is ti me or does this look like it was sopposed to be the new megane.
I don’t think it’s quite fair to say it’s a zero emission car. After all, the power comes from somewhere. I think that when tests were done to see how much a G-Wiz emitted (by charging from a power station) it was still something like 43 grams of Co2 per kilometer and this would be higher again because it holds more power.
Still, it is an achievement. But I think that in the long run, electric cars will be more about saving oil than helping global warming. But that’s no bad thing.
As far as I’m concerned, if most cars are alternatively fueled then there will still be oil to power our classics, our truly nice cars. Corollas don’t deserve precious oil and neither do Land Rovers. Aston Martins and Porsches on the other hand…
I’d much rather hydrogen and I feel it’s imperative that it gets there eventually because there is something so feeble about electricity. It seems that hydrogen could completely emulate what oil has done for cars. Hydrogen could just take over if an infrastructure was set up. Electric cars are going to take a while to get there and when they do, we’ll still have to recharge them.
Still, this looks like a pretty decent offering from Nissan. It doesn’t look too bad (though does anybody else wish that Nissan would pick a design language and stick to it for a little while?) and it sounds promising. I’d just be more impressed if it was hydrogen. I may have even bought one if it was hydrogen.
Angel get with the times, it is going to be ages until an electric car made overseas will slide under the 20K mark in Australia. And besides, who said it was going to cost 50K+? Especially when affordability was the brief, and its rival the Insight is well under the 45K mark. I reckon this will be around $28,000 when it comes here, albeit as a much toned down proposition.
Right with you Alex on your comment about Nissan changing design languages at the drop of a hat. They’ve gone from the brawny Pathfinder and Patrol, to the Renault inspired Tiida, and now the wussy Korean style Maxima. Imagine a comparo between the Epica and the Maxima: the testers would be asleep before they opened the door!
Excellent stats on this and if they are genuine this car will sell like hotcakes.
Fast charge and range is excellent.Team this with solar charging stations and it will be truely zero emmission in the future.
When a car company says Zero Emission, they refer to the car, not the way it gets it power. WHy do people always have to say that because it gets its power from coal it isnt ZE vehicle. We should congratulate them on producing a Zero Emissions “Car”. You never know the car could be getting its electricity from that 3% of hydro and solar power.
VERY well done Nissan! A MUCH better alternative to the G-Whizz. Prius/Insight/Volt aren’t competitors remember, they have petrol/electric whereas this is just electric.
A perfect car for just city-driving and just imagine if almost everyone had one – the air would be quite alot cleaner (especially around the CBD’s).
Problems: nothing on the car, its just the infastructure. Of course, people could just plug it into a socket, but many younger-hipper couples living in units may not even have garages, so they’ll have to park on the street! And also cost – I imagine when it comes here it’ll be like 50k! That won’t be a problem for Prius owners (they’re used to overpriced crap) but maybe for Insight owners (when it also eventually arrives here).
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK NISSAN!!!
Doesnt anyone realise the caption says this is the first affordable ZE vehicle. It will probably lob around 30k base model and then work its way up from there.
Shak, I know that they mean it’s a zero emission car (the car itself not emitting), but when there are still emissions coming from the original power source then there’s not much point in calling it a zero emission vehicle. I think people should know. People will buy this and think they are not emitting a thing when they are, just not directly. Why shouldn’t the matter be brought up?
Holy crap batman that is filthy ! when can we get finally get an environmentally friendly car that actually looks hot :) Prius, Insight, Volt… they all just look soo….. not hot :( i want to walk out the door on a monday morning and think “yes wow thats hot! and its all mine :D” and not “ugh its monday :(“.
Don’t get too fussed about the zero-emissions name. it’s the principle. to be truly zero-emission, you’d have to stay still, and stop breathing. There are emissions produced whenever we make anything, even electric engines produce ozone. As Alex said, the electricity they use is still less polluting than a petrol engine, and that’s at the current technology, it should get better. I’m not sure hydrogen is the answer, it has to be produced, and that takes energy, then there’s the transport of it, etc. Non-polluting electricity generation is the answer to the world’s problems.
Okay, everything about it sounds very environmental friendly. I guess it’s nice of Nissan to produce a car like it but front is not that good looking. Maybe the goal is to produce an eco-friendly car but I think it won’t hurt to make it pleasing to the eye.
I think someone should have told Nissan that the electric car has been a reality for about a century so they are arrive quite late with this awful washing machine.
By the way i cant see anything less exciting than a electric econobox.
To all those waxing lyrical about the prospect of hydrogen – don’t sit there waiting for it – the infrastructure required would be both difficult to establish and expensive – and not without risk – do remember the Hindenberg.
The 160km range is a start – but many people make 100k journeys – and a few hills or a diversion along the way will make the range somewhat marginal – not much in reserve as you get to the destination.
cant believe some people are soo immature here!
anyway I think it looks good, and thankfully quite different from Prius and Insight.
I do hope that they redesign the next Tiida around this car, coz the current one is a joke!
Good work on Nissan’s part for bringing pure EVs to the masses. Don’t know how succesful this will be but Nissan deserve some credit for trying.
Although the car isn’t technically zero emission, it is still much more efficient to produce electricity from coal than it is to use an ICE. The bonus is when the powers that be push viable renewable energy programs.
“The styling will identify not only Nissan LEAF but also the owner as a participant in the new era of zero-emission mobility.” more commonly known as ‘Smug’ :)
You will hope replacement parts will be affordable when people have accidents in them.
The Charging Plug for the car from images I have seen, is at the very very front of the car in the nose.
If you rear end someone by accident, you will screw the charging socket up… maybe not a good idea?
i really like it.
pearl white with black interior though =].
Drove an ’06 Prius, didn’t like it at all – but this seems to have more power.
But can’t grasp the fact these cars would probably make no noise and have zero driver involvment in terms of manual transmissions, what is considered to be normal engine noises/characteristics and sporting credentials.
Nice styling – like a mid sized hatch version of the Murano.
No doubt about it, this is the future – current predictions have oil prices tipping $200 a barrel within the next 2-3 years, and the only way from there is going to be rapidly up….
Weird styling, weird interior.
Not remotely attractive from any angle IMHO.
(At least it doesn’t look like a Prius though).
Just….WEIRD!
When they hit the market here watch to see if the dealers try the toystore “Batteries not included” line :-)
On a serious note, If this is the first (modern) electric car to hit our roads it will give Nissan the whole of the electric car market until another brand gets it’s product here. This could be quite profitable for Nissan.
Stand by for tabloid news TV programs (6:30pm weeknights) to run stories on these cars being dangerous because they make no noise, backyard tinkerers getting fryed when fiddling with the high voltage and other wails of ignorance. I am not to sure about wisdom of the location of the charging socket though.
As a city based comuting car I think Nissan have a winner, they could have taken a few design cues from Tesla, but otherwise it is not too bad. The price will determin the extent of its success.
Is it a criteria for all cars of this type to be ugly?!
LEAF – by the looks of the front end it should be SLUG.
heres hoping Nissan Australia price this car well below what Toyota have been pricing the Pruis.
By the time 2012 rolls on by, Honda will have their 3 Hybrids in Australia:
Jazz
Insight
CR-Z
So if thats the case, there will be ALOT more competition in this kind of Low/No Emission car market, so the price should hopefully be around what aussie families can actually afford.
After all if Nissan are aiming this towards families… they need to price it accordingly..
Hell, why not team up with the aussie government to get discounts? and tax incentives.
without the added cost and weight of an internal combustion engine and the heavy duty components needed to carry its weight, even with more batteries this car should be able to be made cheaper than a hybrid.
Be nice if it started around $25,000 (or lower)
Its ugly but with the same torque as a Golf GTI, its got to be worth the test drive.
Not sure why so many have hang ups over the price tag (if it is 50K). I should think there will be leasing options for EV’s to get the market going until the prices do drop over time.
If anyone should be upset it should be mechanics! Whats the service interval going to be when most Electric motors & Battery packs are 100,000km service free. Brakes/Tyres/Wipers/Software update.. a bit boring
Alex, get over it mate. H2 is as good as dead. Nearly 50 years in development and nothing in a single showroom for sale anywhere!!!
Is the charging of the car at .90 per charge accurate? You are using 220v and it takes 4 to 8 hours to charge, it seems it would cost more than 90 cents.