Nissan Leaf prices creep north for updated 2022 model
The updated Nissan Leaf will be $1000 more than the model it replaces when it arrives in dealerships in August.
Prices start at $50,990 plus on-road costs for the entry-level Leaf and rise to $61,490 plus costs for the Leaf e+ that gets a bigger battery and more power.
The Leaf joins other popular models with recent price increases, including the MG ZS EV and Tesla Model 3.
READ MORE: Nissan turns over a new Leaf with updated EV
READ MORE: 2021 Nissan Leaf e+ review
While there are some additional features – including a digital rear vision mirror – and revised styling, the facelifted Leaf is unchanged in the way it drives from the car that has been on sale in Australia since 2019.
It is still based on an ICE architecture and has the same mid-sized hatchback body.
The biggest change to the refreshed Leaf is to the look. As well as at least one new colour (the distinctive grey in these pics), there’s a new grille, new badges and darker headlights. There are also new 17-inch wheels, a new rear lower bumper (or diffuser) and a new rear spoiler.
The central part of the dashboard has also been redesigned, with new buttons for the ventilation controls and an additional USB-C port joining the larger USB-A outlet.
Nissan also now refers to the pedestrian warning system as “Canto sound”; it emits a futuristic whirring that changes its pitch with vehicle speed (and whether it’s travelling forwards or backwards) to alert those on foot of its presence.
As with the current Leaf, both the updated version of the regular Leaf and Leaf e+ get a partial digital instrument cluster, partial leather seats, heated front seats and an 8-inch central touchscreen incorporating Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.
There’s also a 360-degree camera, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), parking sensors at either end and adaptive cruise control.
Both Leaf and Leaf e+ get the same single electric motor powering the front wheels.
The regular Leaf gets a 40kWh battery claimed to provide 270km of WLTP range.
It provides enough power for the motor to produce 110kW and 320Nm, enough to accelerate the hatch to 100km/h in 7.9 seconds.
Charging off a home powerpoint takes 21 hours but can be lowered to 7.5 hours using a wallbox charger (the Leaf can accept up to 6.6kW of AC charge).
Faster DC charging is done at up to 50kW using the less common CHAdeMO plug. Nissan claims the Leaf will charge from 20 to 80 percent in about an hour.
The Leaf e+ ups the battery capacity to 62kWh and in turn improves the WLTP range to 385km.
Outputs step up to 160kW and 340Nm, in turn lowering the 0-100km/h time to 6.9 seconds.
Charging from a home powerpoint takes up to 32 hours or 11.5 hours using a wallbox charger.
The Leaf e+ can also accept up to 100kW of DC charge. So even with the larger capacity battery, the 20-80 percent charge time is listed as 45 minutes.
