October 9, 2024

Motowndesserts

Automotive to Us

Battery change boosts 2023 Nissan Leaf efficiency, slightly

Battery change boosts 2023 Nissan Leaf efficiency, slightly

The Nissan Ariya will soon arrive at the company’s U.S. dealerships, but it will not be the only EV showcased at them.

The other, of program, is the Nissan Leaf. The Ariya crossover isn’t changing Leaf: Nissan reduced the Leaf’s cost a couple many years in the past, seemingly to make home for the Ariya. 

The 2023 Nissan Leaf sees some function variations, inside of a slimmed-down lineup, and some particulars expose slight gains in efficiency for the long-operating electrical hatchback.

2023 Nissan Leaf

2023 Nissan Leaf

From a configuration standpoint, the battery pack shifts from 62 kwh to 60 kwh. It is the most sizeable update to the Leaf because the 2019 model’s In addition edition gained its 62-kwh battery pack. That pushed the Leaf, for the to start with time, past the 200-mile barrier that some might say distinguishes a lengthy-selection EV. 

By the EPA ratings, range with the freshly downsized pack dips marginally, but performance rises somewhat. The 2022 Nissan Leaf gained 104 MPGe merged in SV or SL form with the 62-kwh battery pack, amounting to a 215-mile range, or 108 MPGe in foundation S Plus variety (no for a longer period supplied), bringing a 226-mile variety. The 2023 Leaf SV earns a 109 MPGe blended ranking and a 212-mile assortment, although it is the EPA’s town-cycle quantities that element into that most considerably. 

The battery pack modify isn’t just capacity (gross, not usable, in the Leaf’s scenario). Nissan advised Green Motor vehicle Reviews that there are precise battery-chemistry improvements at participate in, as properly as what Nissan describes as “minor aerodynamic enhancements for this model year.”

2023 Nissan Leaf

2023 Nissan Leaf

The improvements “allowed us to retain the good benefit of Leaf with minimal—if any—impact on variety,” according to Nissan communications supervisor Dan Passe. The Leaf, which is U.S.-designed, begins at $36,895 in its 60-kwh edition, or just $28,895 in foundation 40-kwh form, and till the stop of the calendar year it’s nevertheless suitable for the comprehensive $7,500 EV tax credit score. 

The Leaf stays noteworthy as the only air-cooled EV for the U.S. current market, and Nissan has manufactured a collection of functioning modifications to the chemistry that, after a lot more than a 10 years on the market, make the Leaf’s pack considerably less inclined to heat and array degradation than earlier versions. As mobile chemistry and battery administration systems have developed, air-cooling is after once again becoming regarded as by automakers—Mercedes-Benz, for example—as a pounds-preserving risk for future EVs.

Nissan Leaf and Fermata Energy FE-15 bidirectional charger – Photo by Fermata Energy

Nissan Leaf and Fermata Power FE-15 bidirectional charger – Photo by Fermata Strength

Nissan has not swapped the Leaf’s CHAdeMO speedy-charging port for a CCS one particular, but previously this calendar year it accredited the initial guarantee-supported bidirectional charger for the Leaf, letting it to provide power again to the grid in some configurations. 

When an eventual future alternative may possibly see a further amount of alter, for now these incremental assortment boosts and effectiveness advancements present that Nissan has not forgotten about its most reasonably priced EV.