Latest news with #HirokiIsobe
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
New Nissan Leaf mantra: ‘Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency' for 300-mile range
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. Future Product Find our what powertrains, redesigns and freshenings are planned for the next four years. View the list Brand future product timelines 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. Sign up for our daily First Shift morning newscast email for a quick video to start your day. 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. Have an opinion about this story? Tell us about it and we may publish it in print. Click here to submit a letter to the editor.
Auto Car
14 hours ago
- Automotive
- Auto Car
DRIVEN: Nissan Leaf reinvented as sleek SUV with 375-mile range
Nissan says insights from customers can help new Leaf 'set standard for future EVs' Open gallery Close The Nissan Leaf has been reinvented as a sleek SUV with a range of up to 375 miles thart its chief engineer has vowed will 'set the standard for future electric vehicles' – and we've had a first taste. The pioneering EV was launched in 2010 as a mid-sized hatchback but has been entirely reinvented for this third generation to take on the likes of the Skoda Elroq and Kia EV3 in the family crossover class. It will be sold globally and manufactured at Nissan's Sunderland plant in the UK. While the new Leaf has just been revealed, Autocar has already had two runs in prototype versions, first at Nissan's Grandrive test track in Japan and then at Millbrook Proving Ground in the UK. New Nissan Leaf: technical details The new Leaf sits on the CMF-EV platform that's used by the larger Nissan Ariya and various Renault EVs, meaning it's technically unrelated to the first two generations of Leaf. However, chief engineer Hiroki Isobe told Autocar that learnings from those cars – gained from more than 700,000 global sales that led to more than 17 billion miles of driving – were invaluable. 'The aim was to set the standard for future electric vehicles,' he said. 'We're building on the Leaf DNA: it's created for everyday customers and the goal was to create an easy-to-use EV that can be driven without any discomfort. We have a huge database of information about what customers want.' That put the focus on maximising the efficiency of the Leaf, which resulted in an aerodynamically sculpted body, including flush door handles, a steeply raked windscreen and an underfloor cover, combining for a drag coefficient of just 0.25. There's also a revamped 'three-in-one' electric motor and a separate heat pump to optimise the efficiency of the heating system. It sits on 18in or 19in tyres, depending on spec. Two battery options will be offered, with usable capacities of 52kWh and 75kWh, giving the car an official range of 271 or 375 miles. But Nissan emphasises its efficiency at motorway speed, claiming it can cover more than 200 miles at an 80mph cruise. Unlike previous Leafs, the new car will be equipped in the UK with a CCS charging system, rather than a Chademo one, which can take DC rapid-charging rates of up to 150kW. The interior has also been completely reinvented, with the dashboard built around a pair of 14.3in screens running a Google-based infotainment system. Despite the Leaf's new fastback bodystyle, Nissan claims it has plenty of rear head room, while the boot capacity is put at 437 litres. The Leaf will be offered with a range of semiautonomous driving technology and a 3.7kW vehicle-to-load outlet. It will be built and sold globally, including at Sunderland. That plant has been heavily upgraded and expanded to house production of the Leaf along with the next-generation Juke and Qashqai crossovers, which are both set to sit on the same CMF-EV platform. While the new Juke is expected in the coming years, the next-generation Qashqai has been delayed. First drive: Nissan Leaf prototype The new Nissan Leaf feels like a bit of a milestone moment: it's the first mainstream mass-market EV to reach a third generation. Although that really depends on how you define such things: to all intents and purposes, the new Leaf is an entirely new model. The only thing it has in common with its pioneering predecessors is a name. The original Leaf arrived in 2010 as a mid-sized five-door hatchback with a Chademo charging port, a 24kWh battery, a 124-mile range, a price tag of £23,350 after a government grant and a whole load of novelty about whether a car powered by batteries could actually find mainstream buyers. The Mk2 Leaf followed in 2018, eventually featuring a 60kWh battery that gave it a range of up to 239 miles and priced from £21,990 (again, after a government grant). Fifteen years after being launched and the Leaf is as unrecognisable compared with its predecessors as the concept of a government grant is to UK EV buyers. For this third generation it has grown substantially and is now firmly a crossover – albeit a very sleek one – rather than a hatchback. That shift in size helps make way for the new Renault-built Nissan Micra but is also designed to position the new Leaf as the primary car of a household. The Leaf now sits on the same platform as the larger Ariya EV and has a strong family resemblance to that model: it's determinedly less frumpy than the Leafs of old. That's in part because of the brief the development team was set, described by chief vehicle engineer Hiroki Isobe as: 'Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency.' Plenty of sleek aerodynamic elements help the new body to achieve that improved drag coefficient of 0.25 (the Mk2 Leaf's was 0.28) and thereby maximise range, and there's now a bespoke heat pump for the heating system. With the biggest 75kWh (usable capacity) battery pack fitted, the Leaf has an official range of 375 miles. But the main focus has been on offering real-world range at speed, and indeed Nissan claims it can cover more than 200 miles at an 80mph cruise. When you do reach your destination, it will charge at up to 150kW via – gasp! – a CCS plug. At which time, can we all please spare a moment to remember Chademo, forever to be remembered as the Betamax of EV charging? Any judgement on that will have to wait, though, because so far our running in the Leaf has been far more limited. I sampled a prototype version under a long embargo at Nissan's Grandrive test track in Yokohama, then last week editor Mark Tisshaw tackled the Hill Route at Millbrook Proving Ground in one. Both tracks gave hints at the new Leaf's dynamic prowess but little more. Mechanically, the Leaf has a new 'three-in-one' electric motor (meaning it combines the inverter, motor and reducer into a single package) that sends up to 214bhp and 261lb ft of torque to the front wheels. There's MacPherson-strut suspension up front and a multi-link arrangement at the rear, while wheel sizes range from 18in to 19in. Nissan says the Leaf has been set up for a comfortable ride in order to better fit its family car brief. And even on a short drive, what's instantly apparent is the refinement: it's really quiet and calm, with strong noise isolation. The power delivery feels linear and smooth as well: it's not an EV for showing off with dramatic acceleration, but it has strong pick-up, as you would expect. The Mk2 Leaf's one-pedal mode returns, plus there's now adjustable brake regen controlled by paddles on the steering wheel. They work well, but I suspect most drivers will end up using the one-pedal mode most of the time. When it comes to dynamics, the new Leaf is fairly typical among crossovers of this size: our initial experiences have revealed no real foibles or annoyances that would put you off, but those searching for pure driver engagement will be left wanting. Still, the steering is well weighted and it's a very relaxing car to drive. It's also a pleasant place to sit: the dashboard's twin digital screens are crisp and clear and there are useful physical buttons for key functions, although we didn't have enough time to really find out how well either worked. The layout is a little more traditional than the Ariya's, but in terms of practicality that's not a bad thing at all. Back in 2010, there were no rivals for it if you were looking for something electric, but today the electric crossover market is incredibly crowded. Nissan will be relieved, then, that these early drives suggest the reinvented Leaf should find itself near the sharp end. Join our WhatsApp community and be the first to read about the latest news and reviews wowing the car world. Our community is the best, easiest and most direct place to tap into the minds of Autocar, and if you join you'll also be treated to unique WhatsApp content. You can leave at any time after joining - check our full privacy policy here.
