Nissan unveils a Leaf that is actually interesting

Monday, 3 December 2018

The new Nissan Leaf Nismo RC doubles the output and halves the 0-100 time of the previous car. That happens when you jam an extra motor in it.

People tend to split into two very distinctive ways of thinking when it comes to the Nissan Leaf - you think it is either the single greatest car on the planet right now and will be the saviour of us all. In fact, it's pretty much what Jesus would drive.

Or…

You consider it an unforgivably ugly and slow moving blight on our roads that is usually driven by an older gentleman with a beard who likes to discuss its virtues in painful detail when lurking around a free charging station.

Tesla-like acceleration times and looks like that? Yep, that's our kind of Leaf.

There doesn't seem to be any middle ground with the Leaf. Which is a shame, because while it isn't exactly the automotive messiah that the enlightened would have you believe, neither is it the offence to nature the haters claim it to be either - it is, in fact, a perfectly pleasant small electric hatch that is actually rather fun to drive and has more than enough electric range for a lot of people.

**READ MORE

Nissan says it will build six of the new Leaf Nismo RCs and they will be mainly used for promotional purposes.

* The day I drove the Nismo Leaf RC electric racing car

* New-generation Nissan Leaf electric vehicle coming to New Zealand

The Leaf Nismo RC is now AWD thanks to the addition of the extra motor at the front.

* Nissan New Zealand gets busy with Nismo**

It is ugly though. While the new one has transitioned from ugly into, well, a bit bland really.

'Why,' the people in the middle of the two extremes cry 'can't we get a good-looking Nissan Leaf?'

Well, it seems if you are a racing driver working for Nissan, you can, because the company's racing arm, Nismo, has just revealed the newest version of the Leaf Nismo RC that also happily packs more than double the maximum power and torque output of its predecessor.

The car, which was developed by Nissan's racing arm debuted at the annual Nismo Festival at Fuji International Speedway, appearing alongside Nissan's new Formula E electric race car. Nissan says the purpose-built car demonstrates how its electric vehicle technology can deliver 'exciting yet quiet, zero-emission power.'

Oh, and it looks freakin' awesome too.

The RC uses the battery technology and drivetrain components from the standard Leaf, but this time pumps things up somewhat.

While the original Leaf Nismo RC had no power increase over the standard car - it was just lighter - the new one has double the power, which required much engineering and clever technology… just kidding, they actually just jammed another electric motor in it!

The two electric motors sit at opposite ends of the chassis, making the Nismo RC AWD, as well as producing 240kW of combined power (120kW each) and a hefty 640Nm of instant torque. Power is managed independently to each axle, instantly supplying torque to the tire with the most grip.

Because it features twice the number of motors, the new Nismo RC was always going to be heavier, but even at 1,220kg it still manages to be much faster than the older car.

In fact the power-to-weight ratio results in an impressive performance of zero to 100km/h in 3.4 seconds – more than 50 per cent quicker than the previous model.

Now that's the kind of Leaf we would think anyone could get excited about.