Earlier this month, the Nissan Leaf was confirmed to be launched in India this financial year (April 2018-March 2019). Now, a new report from Autocar India says that the launch will take place this calendar year, most likely in the fourth quarter (October-December).
Nissan has been mulling over the Leaf’s Indian launch for years now. The car will go on sale in India in its second generation avatar. Like the Nissan GT-R, it will be a niche product in our market. However, the purpose of this model is not only to enhance the brand image but also to understand the market for electric vehicles. The Japanese automaker expects to sell only a handful of the Leafs here, but it will use the learnings from it to work on a locally manufactured, low-cost EV developed specifically for emerging markets like ours.
The all-new Nissan Leaf is 4,480 mm long, 1,790 mm wide and 1,540 mm high. It has a 2,700 mm wheelbase and a 150 mm ground clearance. Powering the C-segment hatchback is the new EM57 electric motor that generates 110 kW (150 PS) and 320 Nm of torque. A 40 kWh Lithium-ion battery is standard. Charging it fully takes 16 hours (using a 3 kW charger)/8 hours (using a 6 kW charger). Charging it from alert to 80% using a quick charger takes only 40 minutes.
The second-gen Nissan Leaf delivers a range (JC08 test cycle) of 400 km. Along with an impressive range, it offers some advanced technologies such as e-Pedal, ProPILOT and ProPILOT Park. e-Pedal gives the convenience of driving (starting, accelerating, decelerating and stopping) using just the accelerator pedal. The ProPILOT technology is used for single-lane autonomous driving on highways, while the ProPILOT Park technology is for autonomous parking.
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The new generation Nissan Leaf will be imported in CBU form, likely from the Oppama Plant in Japan. It could end up costing somewhere between INR 40 lakh (ex-showroom) and INR 50 lakh (ex-showroom) as the government is yet to announce incentives for EVs imported as CBUs.
[Source: Autocar India]
