Nissan Australia’s electric mainstay is due to turn over a new leaf in the third quarter of 2022, bringing with it some striking new design features well as a pedestrian alert sound that adjusts as the vehicle speeds up or slows down, and a digital rear-view mirror.
The Nissan Leaf is already available in Australia in two battery options, and its 2022 incarnation will offer drivers the same entry-level Leaf with a 110kW motor and 270km range and long-range Leaf e+ with 160kW and 385km range (both on the WLTP cycle).
Now priced from $50,900 for the former and $61,490 for the latter before on-road costs, both will arrive in August with their key design updates.
These new features include new badging, a reworked front grille, and a darkened headlight finisher. These are joined by a completely reworked 17-inch alloy wheel design, as well as a new rear diffuser, and sporty-looking rear spoiler and side sills.
In a first for Australia, the Leaf will also get the external Canto sound designed by Nissan to ensure pedestrians hear the vehicle’s approach when it is traveling at a speed of 30km/hr or less.
Available in Europe since 2021 after it was first debuted at the Tokyo Motor Showin 2017, the Canto AVAS (Acoustic Vehicle Alert System) has been designed by Nissan’s sound designers and engineers to change tone and pitch based on whether the car was speeding up, slowing down, or reversing.
In addition to the AVAS addition, the 2022 Nissan Leaf also gets a new safety feature to join its already extensive list in the form of a digital “smart” rear-view mirror – in other words, a camera installed at the back of the vehicle transmits a crystal-clear image to the mirror in the cabin.
Drivers can choose between using the digital mirror or the traditional actual mirror by just pressing a button.
“The Nissan Leaf has been inviting Australians to experience electric since the first-generation vehicle arrived here in 2012,” Nissan Australia MD Adam Paterson said in a statement.
“And with a stylish new look and more safety technology, and with the flexibility of two battery-capacity options, the switch to zero-emission motoring is now even more appealing in the new Nissan Leaf.”
The changes add to the Leaf’s already extensive list of exterior features, which include auto-levelling dusk-sensing LED headlights, LED rear lights and DRLs, heated door mirrors, and front and rear fog lights.
Additional specifications provided by Nissan are as follows:
| Specifications | LEAF $50,900 |
LEAF e+
$61,490 |
|
| Power | kW | 110 | 160 |
| Torque | Nm | 320 | 340 |
| Driving range (WLTP)^ | kms | 270 | 385 |
| Acceleration (0-100km/h) | sec | 7.9 | 6.9 |
| Charging AC domestic socket | Hours | 21.0 | 32.0 |
| Charging AC wallbox# | Hours | 7.5 | 11.5 |
| DC quick charger (20% to 80%)~ | Hours | 1.0 | 1.5 |
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.