Nissan unveiled the second-generation Leaf electric hatch a couple of days back. Now the Japanese carmaker looks to extend its zero-emissions car family. A new all-electric SUV is expected to join the ranks of the Leaf. The Leaf-based SUV will make its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in a concept guise.
Nissan revealed their plans of introducing an all-electric range of vehicle based on the new Leaf platform a few months back. The carmaker wants to extend their EV sales to 20 per cent of their total sales by 2020. With growing demands for the high-riding vehicle these days, introducing an electric SUV seems to be a viable decision by the Kanagawa-based carmaker.
However, the new battery-powered SUVwill only go on sale in the year 2019. It will be a little bigger than the Nissan Qashqai. Owing to the advanced platform of the new-gen Leaf, the SUV will benefit from lightweight construction and improved structural rigidity.
The powertrain options would include the standard 40kWh batteries as the new Leaf will be delivering 147bhp and 320Nm with a range of 400kilometres. A more powerful battery pack that will be revealed next year by Nissan for the Leaf will also be offered in the new SUV. Hardware like the ProPilot autonomous tech, e-Pedal and all other creature comforts will be part of the new SUVs feature list.
The production-spec Nissan electric SUV will go up against the production version of the forthcoming Volkswagen I.D. Crozz, Skoda Vision-E, Jaguar I-Pace, and the Tesla Model 3. Nissan also has plans of introducing an electric saloon after the SUV.
CarWale will be there at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show which opens its gates on 27 October. Stay tuned.
