Last Friday, the price for all trim levels of the new Nissan Leaf was finally revealed in France. In total, there are now four trim levels: Visia, Acenta, N-Connecta and Tekna.
The new Nissan Leaf had its battery capacity increased by 33 % from 30 to 40 kWh, while the NEDC range increased by 51 % from 250 to 378 km. This shows us that the new Leaf is not only much more pleasing to the eye, it’s also more efficient than the outgoing model.
Furthermore, the new Nissan Leaf not only has better range and efficiency, it’s also much safer. Safety features such as intelligent emergency braking and pedestrian reconnaissance (AEB), lane departure warning and intelligent line crossing prevention (LKAS), traffic sign recognition, and blind spot monitoring are standard in all trim levels. This is a step forward in Carlos Ghosn’s vision of achieving a zero-emission and zero-fatality mobility.
The 6,6 kW internal charger is now also standard in all trim levels, which is a good complement to the also standard 50 kW DC fast charging capability via CHAdeMO.
However, you need to choose at least the Acenta trim level to get some goodies such as the always recommend heat pump, front and rear parking sensors, adaptive cruise control, a 7-inch touch screen with NissanConnect, backup camera and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto support for your smartphone.
The N-Connecta trim level does have some options that I like such as the heated front and rear seats and Nissan AVM (360º Around View Monitor via four cameras). Nissan’s ProPILOT Assist technology is available as an option.
With the top-of-the-line Tekna trim you get LED headlights, Bose® Energy Efficient Series 7 speakers and ProPILOT, but ProPILOT Park is optional.
Now let’s see the prices before any government incentives or Nissan discounts in France.
New Nissan Leaf
Old Nissan Leaf
What I most disliked about the LEAF 2.ZERO Launch Edition was that you could only choose two colors – black or grey -, which are the worst choices for a car, especially if it’s electric. The other thing I disliked were the 17-inch wheels, which are less efficient than the 16-inch wheels present in the Acenta.
To sum up, I was never a fan of the old Nissan Leaf, not because of its weird looks, but mostly due to its debut with LMO battery cells without TMS (Thermal Management System), in my mind it was a trainwreck waiting to happen. However, I really like this new model – even without a TMS.
It doesn’t matter if we consider the 2018 Nissan Leaf a second generation or a facelift, since it’s a much better car than the outgoing model. The new model looks great – which means you’ll have less difficulties convincing your other half in getting one -, it’s much safer, has a better trunk, has more range, better efficiency and Android Auto.
The entry level Visia is very well equipped and my only critique – that can be extended to almost every automaker – is that heat pumps, heated seats and LED headlights are essential and should be standard for every electric car. Anyway, considering that after discounts and incentives the LEAF 2.ZERO Launch Edition is available in Portugal for 30.400 €, Visia should be around 26.000 €, which pressures Renault to drop Zoe’s price.
In the following weeks the prices in other European markets should start to appear.
