New Nissan Leaf mantra: ‘Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency' for 300-mile range

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5 hours ago

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Nissan's mantra for the redesigned third-generation 2026 Leaf electric vehicle is 'efficiency, efficiency, efficiency.'
Engineers used a host of tricks to boost the maximum driving range about 40 percent to 303 miles (487 kilometers), giving fresh legs to the car that pioneered the affordable EV segment 15 years ago.
When the new Leaf lands in the U.S. and Canada this autumn, new technologies will run the gamut from brawnier batteries and a miniaturized motor unit to smarter heat management.
Even the Leaf's more fetching crossover-styled silhouette pursues better efficiency.
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Overhauled aerodynamics split the air with a slick 0.26 drag coefficient, improving on the 0.29 of the frumpy outgoing second-generation Leaf hatchback. The Leaf gets even better aero marks in Europe with a drag coefficient 0.25, thanks partly to skinnier tires used in that market.
Under the sheet metal, a new 'big module' battery approach crams more cells into the battery pack, improving energy density 17 percent. And a new three-in-one packaging of the motor, inverter and reducer into one compact unit delivers a 10 percent downsizing in the drivetrain.
'We developed the technologies that realize this third-generation Leaf with an emphasis on efficiency, efficiency, efficiency,' Chief Vehicle Engineer Hiroki Isobe said during a June 9 briefing at Nissan's global headquarters. 'It is a more rational vehicle as a whole package.'
Nissan Motor Co. hopes the technological strides make range anxiety and afterthought for buyers in the U.S. and other markets where the Leaf has been leapfrogged by EV rivals. The U.S. launch leads the global rollout, with the start of sales in Japan and Europe happening around year end.
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But the U.S. isn't expected to be the Leaf's biggest market, largely because of uncertainty around EV incentives and the Leaf's prospects as an import in the era of stepped-up U.S. tariffs.
Nissan ended production of the second-generation Leaf at its Smyrna, Tenn., assembly plant.
For the third generation, Leaf output will be consolidated at Nissan's Sunderland plant in the U.K. and at its Tochigi plant in Japan. Batteries will be sourced from AESC in Japan and Europe.
Europe is expected to be the Leaf's biggest market, taking some 60 percent of global deliveries, Chief Product Specialist Keiji Endo said at a briefing. Japan will account for about 20 to 30 percent of global sales, depending on the demand level in the U.S., he said.
Endo declined to give a worldwide sales target, but he said Leaf volume should exceed that of the Nissan Ariya flagship EV crossover. The Ariya, which will share a production line with the Leaf at Tochigi, notched global deliveries of around 50,000 in the fiscal year ended March 31.
Nissan sold about 19,800 of the electric crossovers in the U.S. — and 1,664 in Canada — in calendar year 2024.
'We don't yet know the full impact of the U.S. tariff,' Endo said. 'We still want the Leaf to be our best-selling EV globally, but we still don't know the exact sales figure.'
Overall, the 2026 Leaf rides a little lower, with a more steeply raked windshield and raised tail lip. It is shorter in overall vehicle length, achieves a tighter turning radius and has more rear cargo room. The new Leaf also gets a nose job, dramatically reducing the front overhang.
Flush, pop-out front door handles, a first for Nissan, improve the air flow, as does full underbody sheeting, better front tire air deflectors, flat wheel covers and a fully closing grille shutter.
'We worked with r&d so many times, over and over and over, undertaking aerodynamic analysis to realize this efficiency,' Program Design Director Nobutaka Tase said.
A better thermal management system integrates the heating and air conditioning system with the battery and powertrain to improve overall performance.
The outgoing Leaf partially integrated the heating and air conditioning with only the battery.
The system also leans on the onboard navigation system to preselect the best heating or cooling setting for the drive ahead. If the car navigation determines it is summer and that the upcoming route covers some heavy-load scenarios, such as a hill climb, the system automatically adjusts the battery cooling mode to conserve energy and extend battery charge.
The new Leaf's battery size is also bumped up to 75 kilowatt-hours for the upper grade, from 60 kWh before, and to 52 kWh for the entry grade, from 40 kWh.
Nissan hasn't given a range yet for the 52-kWh battery variant.
But of the three versions offered with the 75 kWh-pack, the long-range edition has an estimated EPA range of 303 miles (487 kilometers). The heaviest of them, the top-tier Platinum+ model, achieves 259 miles (341 kilometers).
The long-range 2025 Leaf, by contrast, had an EPA range of 212 miles.
In Europe and Japan, Nissan said the range will exceed 372 miles (598 kilometers), under the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle test cycle, which is considered more lenient than EPA testing.
The Leaf's top-tier model keeps a 160-kilowatt motor, but the lower-trim graduates to a 130-kw setup, from the second-generation's 110-kw motor.
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