There has been no official word from Nissan on launch of the Leaf electric in India yet
With growing impetus for electric vehicles (EVs) in India, many automakers are vying to make a mark in the sustainable mobility space. Nissan is one such brand that has been contemplating bringing an EV to India for a very long time. However, the company hasn’t been able to put its plans up and running.
Recently, a fully undisguised prototype of Nissan Leaf was spotted testing on streets of Delhi NCR. Latest spy image of this test mule is credited to automotive enthusiast Swarup Mishra in which the fully-electric hatchback is seen wearing a green registration plate.
Nissan Leaf spied in India
The test mule is seen wrapped in a red paint scheme with only its rear end visible. That said, it isn’t the first time that the electric hatchback has been spied testing in India. Back in 2019, Leaf was spied on Indian roads on multiple occasions which had sparked rumours of its launch in the country.
Earlier in November last year, Nissan CEO, Makoto Uchida, in an interaction with a leading newspaper confirmed that the company is looking to launch an EV in India. However, he declined to comment on specific details of this upcoming product or an expected launch timeline. We believe that the upcoming EV from Nissan is most likely to be Leaf since it has already been put to test on Indian roads in a number of instances.
Nissan Leaf is one of the most popular electric cars in the world. By Feb 2022, global sales of Nissan Leaf crossed the 5.22 lakh mark. It has been on sale since 2010 in over fifty overseas markets of Europe, Asia and Latin America and even received a generation upgrade in 2017.
In India, Nissan could bring the electric hatchback as a fully imported model via CBU route from Japan, at least initially till the brand is able to create a sizable consumer base. If and when launched, it could be priced around the Rs 40 lakh mark and will serve as an affordable alternative to MINI Cooper Electric and the upcoming Volvo XC40 Recharge.
Expected Features & Powertrain Specs
Being a CBU product, Leaf is expected to be very well loaded. It is expected to include features like ProPilot single-lane autonomous driving along with a semi-autonomous driving system and e-Pedal mode for one-pedal driving. It is also likely to be equipped with an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) which will offer a range of safety features like lane departure warning, blind-spot warning and emergency braking system to name a few.
Powering Leaf will be an EM57 electric motor that derives its energy from a 40 kWh Li-ion battery pack. This powertrain returns an output of 146 bhp and 320 Nm of peak torque. It claims an estimated range of 240km on a single charge as per NEDC. Nissan offers two types of AC chargers with Leaf- a 3kW unit and a 6kW unit. The former takes 16 hours for the battery to rejuvenate while the latter makes it in 8 hours.
Source: Electric - rushlane.com
