The Nissan Leaf (Japanese: 日産・リーフ Nissan Rīfu), stylised by manufacturer Nissan as LEAF, is a compact five-door hatchback battery electric vehicle, introduced in Japan and the United States in December 2010, and now in its second generation. Its range on a full charge is 243 km (151 miles).Among other awards and recognition, the Leaf has won the 2010 Green Car Vision Award, the 2011 European Car of the Year, the 2011 World Car of the Year, and the 2011–2012 Car of the Year Japan.Global sales totaled over 400,000 Leafs by March 2019, making the Leaf the world's all-time best-selling highway-capable electric car. The United States is its largest market, with 126,747 sold through October 2018; followed by Japan with 100,000 units by April 2018; and Europe with 100,000 by June 2018. The European market was led by Norway with 33,156 new units registered by the end of October 2018.
Nissan sought to make the Leaf appealing to mainstream drivers by giving it a familiar five-door hatchback design. The body has a sharp V-shape design with large, up slanting headlights that split and redirect airflow away from the door mirrors, and the bottom of the car has aerodynamic panelling. The battery, the heaviest part of most electric vehicles, is situated below the seats and rear foot space, keeping the center of gravity as low as possible and giving the car better structural rigidity than a conventional five-door hatchback.
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The Leaf is powered by an electric synchronous motor with 80 kW (107 hp) and 280 N⋅m (207 ft⋅lb) driving the front wheels. The Leaf was initially equipped with a 24 kWh lithium ion battery, later increased to 30 kWh. The battery is manufactured by Automotive Energy Supply Corporation. It's guaranteed for eight years or 100,000 miles.
There is no active cooling of the battery pack, only passive cooling by radiation.
There is a battery refurbishment program in Japan, but not in the US.
According to a 2015 report by Warranty Direct, of 35,000 Leafs sold in Europe, three had had a battery failure, compared to a failure rate 25 times higher for internal combustion engined cars.
Nissan reports the 2011 Leaf has a drag coefficient of Cd=0.29 and the 2013 model Cd=0.28. The Leaf is generally cheaper to operate than gasoline and hybrid cars. However, since the Leaf costs significantly more than similar gasoline-powered vehicles, it may take a long time for the fuel savings to cancel out the increased initial cost, even after government incentives for plug-in electric vehicles.
The body features bulging LED headlamps which direct wind away from the side mirrors, reducing drag and noise.
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