Nissan’s electric model now goes even further

By Gerry Murphy

A couple of weeks ago, just before the budget, James McCarthy, CEO of Nissan Ireland called on the Government to rethink its energy efficiency action plan and to implement a series of radical solutions if it is to achieve its target of reducing CO2 emissions and putting 50,000 electric vehicles on Irish roads by 2020.

He urged them to abolish Benefit-in-Kind taxation for employees supplied with electric vehicles as company cars, to retain the €5,000 grant and Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) exemption for zero emission electric vehicles and to provide free parking and open up bus lanes to those who drive the vehicles.  He also called for the Government to require all 17,000 taxi drivers operating in Ireland to drive an electric vehicle by 2020.

Of course, James McCarthy’s view are coloured by the fact that Nissan sell more electric vehicles in this country and all over the world than any other car maker. However, the arguments do make some sense and while the Nissan Leaf has been the most successful EV ever, now they are making it even more attractive to buyers by extending the range and offering more technology.

That updated all-electric Nissan Leaf with a more powerful battery was launched in Nice last week and goes on sale in Ireland this December in time for 161 registration sales. The Leaf 30 kWh delivers a range of up to 250 km, an increase of 26% or 51 km over the current 24 kWh Leaf.

The increase in range comes courtesy of a new Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LMC) Cathode replacing the previous Lithium Manganese Oxide (LMO) Cathode. The 30 kWh Leaf benefits from an improved battery warranty, up to eight years/160,000 km compared to the five year/100,000 warranty offered on the 24 kWh Leaf.

On our test run in the lower slopes of the French Alps – roads that are used for the Monte Carlo Rally – it became clear that the Leaf with its stretched range will remove another slice of the anxiety from which some EV owners may suffer. On the flat roads along the coast from Nice to Monte Carlo, the battery usage indicator was slow to drop.

When climbing into the mountains it dropped off much more quickly and when we arrived at the top of the mountain, there was only 32% left in the battery pack. We still had a similar length of journey to get ourselves back down to the coast but we needn’t have feared because the Leaf’s ability to regenerate energy proved the journey could be done with exactly the same 32% left in the battery at the finish.

Of course not everyone will need the extra range and there is a premium to be paid for the bigger battery, so Nissan will continue to offer the 24 kWh Leaf alongside the more powerful version. The 30 kWh Leaf sells at a €3,000 premium over the 24 kWh version in SV and SVE trims – it is not available on entry level XE models. Prices start from €26,990 for the Leaf 30 kWh SV and €29,390 for the Leaf 30 kWh SVE. Leaf 24 kWh in XE trim starts from €21,490.