With the Leaf being entering its fifth year of production, Nissan has decided to increase its battery capacity in order to boost its range.
When we were given the Leaf as a long term test car we were concerned with the car’s operating range. Seeing that it could only achieve around 120 km it often gave us a slight sense of paranoia whenever it was taken too far from its charging terminal.
In an attempt to resolve this concern Nissan has introduced a 30 kWh battery as an option; 6 kWh bigger than the current one. Nissan claims that this will give the Leaf a total range of 250 km which is 50 km more than its current capability in terms of NEDC testing.
Increasing the battery size also makes the Leaf 21 kg heavier because of the carbon, nitrogen and magnesium that have been added to the electrodes. The battery will come with an eight-year/150 000 km warranty and will be compatible with a three-phase 400 V rapid charger.
Local details regarding the 2016 Nissan Leaf have not yet been released.
