New 2018 Nissan LEAF Walk-Around Video Presented By Bjorn Nyland
Bjorn Nyland visited the Nissan Futures 3.0 event held recently in Oslo, Norway (watch live here) to check out the new 2018 LEAF, which will be available from January (and today in Japan).
2018 Nissan LEAF
The 150 mile/241 km (EPA/real world range) EV which was presented in Europe was in fact a pre-production offering, and Nissan claims that the production version is to be even better in terms of quality.
According to Bjorn, the new LEAF not only looks better in person, but is more modern and more aggressive. There is plenty of space in the huge trunk (which is mostly unchanged from the 2017 edition), and there is a new Type 2 charging inlet in the front (replacing the old Type 1).
We believe that 22 kW three-phase charging is to be available as an option on top of normal 7 kW found in Europe (unlike the U.S. and Japan).
Inside, the front seats are very good, while Nyland finds the back seats don’t offer the best sitting position (on top of the battery pack). Bjorn also notes a mix of hard and soft materials.
Anyway, from this report and others, it’s seems to be a solid electric car with mass-market appeal in mind.
Categories: Nissan
31 responses to "New 2018 Nissan LEAF Walk-Around Video Presented By Bjorn Nyland"
It’s too bad they need that giant flap on front for the charging ports. Kinda ruins the lines/looks.
Overall, I like the looks better than Gen1.
I agree. I wish they’d have put the charge port on the left-side front fender. I guess having the chademo port sort of inhibits that ability, though. Maybe another good reason to switch to CCS?
I like the LEAF charge port location. Most public stations are directly in front of a parking space.
I have yet to hit an AC L2 charger that was NOT directly in the front.
Chargepoint is usually in the middle I guess because it is one station with two charging cables. Fits on either side or in front though.
Charging at home is where I see it being more of a pain. Most people I know, me included have an EVSE installed to the side. Having it in front will work but it’s more of a pain to get up there and lean over the hood and plug it in.
Not a huge deal but I have to admit I prefer it on the front driver side.
Port at the front of the vehicle is the best for safety. The cord doesn’t need to run between the cars, where people can trip.
+1
I’m driving my second LEAF and love the front center location, glad they didn’t mess with it.
“Overall, I like the looks better than Gen1.”
Totally agree. +1
Can’t believe they went backwards to an analog speedometer. Even gas cars are starting to migrate towards digital.
Kind of goes back and forth. Remember the 1980’s when they had digital speedometers and people hated it, so they reverted back again?
The analog speedometer honestly ruins it for me as well, the original leaf HUD was and still is my all-time favorite and futuristic feeling interface, I kind of prefer some of it to my Model X.
What is the big center hump for???
The service disconnect is in the hump. You can see it in images of the battery pack too.
He said:”it feels about same level as Ampera-E” when he comments about interior quality. “not as nice as E-Golf or Ioniq”.
Let’s hope not. Those front seats in the Bolt suck. Tried it out again recently and it just isn’t gonna happen. 5’11” and 175 lbs and it’s too damn snug. I really don’t get why they (and others) can’t put in a more comfy drivers side seat. I mean that person is likely the one paying for the car and also in it the most. Make it comfy!!!! They look much nicer in the Leaf but only a butt in the seat can truly say. Laughed when he said he was broad shouldered and had a big butt. Not what you expect to hear from some Asian guy.
Bjorn said the front seats are fantastic.
Seems like many people dislike the Bolt’s front seats, so maybe the Leaf will be a good alternative for them (assuming the Model 3 isn’t an option).
This is exactly what happened to me. I was ready to get a Bolt but the seats killed the deal.
No way. They had the Bolt and LEAF right next to each other at the Santa Monica Alt Expo Car Show last month. Sitting in the LEAF was pleasant. The Bolt felt cheap. Just look a the ridiculous hard plastic door panels on the Bolt compared to the padded material on the LEAF. And the ionic is not the only one with a power drivers seat. The FFE has it, as did the LEAF at the Santa Monica show.
That big tan piece in the Leaf could still be hard plastic except for the arm rest. All of this is just being blow out of proportion. Seeing people knock on parts of the car you never actual touch in everyday usage or care what it’s made out of seems silly.
The Bolt interior looks like the Poverty Edition.
Design wise, this is a huge improvement from Leaf1. I like how this car looks. Steering wheel loaded with controls is a big plus since the screen is incredibly small.
This will sell very well!
Any more information on the 22kW 3-phase charging??
They said the 32 ampere Type 2 facility (22 kw) will be optional at extra cost. It will be interesting how much extra this ‘triple sized’ charging facility is over the base 7 kw model.
You may be right, but if so Nissan is just trying to milk the option as there’s very little cost difference for hardware capable of 22kW on 3-phase 400V versus 6.6 kW on single-phase 230V.
Most homes in Europe already have 400V 3-phase TN network connection, so it is frankly a lost opportunity not to equip an EV with an onboard charger that can use it. And since wireless charging is always AC, the onboard charger limits how fast you’ll ever be able to charge wirelessly. That means even those who will only charge at 6.6 or even 3.3 kW at home would still benefit from having the sightly more expensive but far more capable onboard charger. By ditching the Type 1 port and replacing it with Type 2 Nissan has made it very easy to equip the LEAF with at least 11 kW/16A, but really also 22 kW/32A. Given that charging stations typically cost only about €150 more in retail for a 22 kW version compared to the 6.6 kW version, US be surprised if the production cost difference is as much as €50. If they make it an option they slightly increase complexity (because not all the cars are the same), but they may be able to get some takers with a ridiculous markup such as pricing the option €500…
Will only happen in EU,
Sadly, because NA also have 3 phases in industrial and commercial assets.
IMO they should simply have made a single onboard charger the worldwide standard, and it should take 22 kW.
Even though few in NA can easily/cheaply have a 22 kW Home charging station places like malls and restaurants may well. It’s not only industry, but an awful lot of commerce, that have significant power needs and thus 3-phase 400V installations. If one of these were to offer charging 22 kW would be basically the same cost as 6.6 kW (to get it up and running; electricity cost would clearly be higher if people take more energy during their visit). So it’s possible that a 2018 LEAF in NA will encounter lots of places where it could have charged semi-fast if not for the decision to use a slightly cheaper and much less capable one in non-European markets. This is true whether it’s wired or wireless, since all wireless charging is always AC and thus must use the onboard charger, never an external one (which is how DCFC works).
It’s certainly not a deal-breaker, but I wish they didn’t do this sort of stuff.
The LEAF was falling behind with the 2017 MY. The 2018 is a big step forward. The 2019 is going to be another big step, although mainly with respect to range and power (I would REALLY like to know more about the NISMO version, especially the price). And in 2020 the true a generation car arrives (2018 is a significant facelift, but it’s certainly not re-engineered from the ground up as is often incorrectly reported).
It’s getting harder and harder to decide whether I should concert my TM3 reservation into a purchase or not! Current delivery guess is late 2018 (I’m in Norway), but nobody really knows what the ramp up will look like. If Tesla cannot deliver any sooner than they currently expect, and they don’t have a track history of overly pessimistic estimates, I’ll have time to learn of the 2019 LEAFs including the NISMO before it’s time to decide. And if course a ton of other new models that come to market before then. What should I do? ?
The center of front is best location for charging ports for access. Some cables are shorter and that could impact hookup, iced by non users still exist as well
Front is most convenient location. Just more prone to damage in a minor front end Collision though.
Nice car. Looks like a lot of value for the money. Same with the Prius Prime. Compared to ICE cars of similar price they are much nicer (after rebate).
I agree. Have a TM3 reserved but am pretty tempted by this. And it really bugs me that Tesla doesn’t offer CarPlay and Android Auto. Regardless how great Tesla’s software may be, they cannot hope to match the breadth and depth of these huge platforms. Even just running something like LEAF SPY on the car instead of the phone would be super cool. Spotify and internet radio apps are other examples. But the main thing, for me, is having the platform capability. With CarPlay and AA you can be sure that if someone has a great idea for a service where an in-car app makes any sense, you’ll be able to take full advantage. For a techy car like Tesla I think this is a big omission.
The Prime’s seats suck too, though.
No back support, and the “leather” is hot and doesn’t breathe.