Reveal Nissan’s bold new thinking around the venerable Leaf

Nissan’s EV vanguard goes mainstream for a new generation. By Jake Groves.

Scoop: we reveal Nissan’s bold new thinking around the venerable Leaf

NEXT NISSAN LEAF INBOUND

TURNING OVER Once a pioneer, the Nissan Leaf now goes mainstream. The EV game moves quickly – so quickly that the second-generation model wasn’t competitive for long. Our first hint at the design of the new model came with the Chill Out concept, which Nissan says is a preview to ‘a near-future EV’.

NORTHERN PRIDE This new Leaf replacement will be built in Sunderland as Nissan makes its UK plant an EV hub, with senior vice president for R&D David Moss saying: ‘The original Leaf plant is 1.8 gigawatts, but this will be a nine-gigawatt plant.’ The project is scalable, too, so there’s room for expansion.

BATTLE PLANS The replacement for the Leaf will be one of six EVs coming to Europe, according to CEO Makoto Uchida – and is part of the huge ‘Ark’ plan to introduce 30 new models – electric, electrified and combustion – by 2030 that should reinvigorate both the Nissan and upmarket Infiniti brands globally.

PLAYING NICE Nissan will use the AmpR Medium platform (formerly CMF-EV) shared with Renault’s tech arm, Ampere. Nissan already uses it in the Ariya, and in the Leaf replacement a range of well over 300 miles should be possible. An e-4orce dual-motor all-wheel drive model is also promised.

FACT FILE

• POWERTRAIN Single or dual motors, 160-300bhp (est), frontor all-wheel drive
• CHASSIS Steel monocoque
• DUELate 2024

Teaser images have revealed new Leaf’s light signature