The New Nissan LEAF has won its first major Australian automotive award, winning the coveted Drive.com.au Car of the Year ‘Green Innovation’ award.
Nissan LEAF – the icon of Nissan Intelligent Mobility – was recognized for its ground-breaking vehicle-to-grid technology, which enables the vehicle to share power between homes, buildings and power grids.
Nissan Intelligent Mobility encompasses three core areas of innovation: how our cars are powered (Nissan Intelligent Power), how they are driven (Nissan Intelligent Driving) and how they are integrated into society (Nissan Intelligent Integration) – with the latter led by new Nissan LEAF’s bi-directional charging capabilities.
Using vehicle-to-home systems, the battery makes it possible to store surplus power during the day and then use it to help power the home, or business, in the evening.
The customer can also recharge the battery in the middle of the night, when off-peak prices are at their lowest, and then use the electricity during the day to reduce energy costs.
Drive.com.au’s seven expert judges on the Drive Car of the Year panel recognized the LEAF for its abilities beyond being just an electric car, with the capacity for its battery to provide energy back into the household grid.
“There are significant advantages in driving an electric car, but the Nissan LEAF takes those benefits beyond the driving experience with the ability to save money when it’s in the driveway,” said Andrew Maclean, editor in chief of the Drive Network.
“The Nissan LEAF-to-Home function makes the electric car more appealing than ever.”
With the new second-generation Nissan LEAF due to arrive in the middle of next year, Nissan was excited to receive this important industry award.
“Drive Car of the Year is one of the most important awards in the industry, and we are delighted with the recognition bestowed on new Nissan LEAF,” said Nissan Australia managing director, Stephen Lester.
“The benefits of owning a LEAF are considerable. The high power and torque make it incredibly fun to drive, it’s inexpensive to run on a daily basis and the vehicle-to-grid benefits are groundbreaking in what they offer owners.
“This is wonderful recognition for LEAF, Nissan, and a global team that put so much effort into the advanced Nissan Intelligent Mobility technologies included as standard equipment on this vehicle.”
The Nissan LEAF is the world’s best-selling electric vehicle with over 360,000 global sales. With a more powerful 40kWh battery and a real-world driving range of up to 270kms (WLTP combined cycle#), the new Nissan LEAF has an improved 110kW of power – up 38 per cent versus the outgoing model – and 320Nm or torque, an increase of 14 per cent over the first generation, making driving exhilarating.
Charging times*, depending on the charging connection, range between 24 hours to a less than 60-minute fast charge.
The New Nissan LEAF is packed with Nissan Intelligent Mobility (NIM) technologies including Intelligent 360 degree Around View Monitor with Moving Object Detection, Predictive Forward Collision Warning, Intelligent Emergency Braking – with Pedestrian Protection, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Intelligent Cruise and Trace Control and Intelligent lane Intervention.
It also features e-pedal, a world-first technology that allows drivers to start, accelerate, decelerate, stop and hold the car by using the accelerator pedal alone – without needing to use the brakes. It also includes the Auto Hold function, maintaining the car’s position until acceleration is required
Available in six contemporary colors including arctic White, Ivory Pearl with black roof, Magnetic Red, Pearl Black, Platinum and Gun Metallic, LEAF will be sold at 89 Dealerships nation-wide when it goes on sale, making Nissan the biggest electric network in Australia.
