TOKYO – Nissan’s Leaf may be the world’s best-selling electric vehicle. But the automaker is pitching the second generation as all that and much more.
The redesigned Leaf starts by boosting the range some 40 percent to 150 miles to ease worries about being stranded with a depleted battery. That is enough to eliminate range anxiety in markets such as Japan and Europe, CEO Hiroto Saikawa said at the car’s Tokyo unveiling.
A performance-oriented Leaf with a more powerful motor and higher battery capacity will arrive in the fiscal year starting in April 2018. That will have enough juice to make range anxiety a memory in North America as well, Saikawa said. A premium edition will also follow.