Nissan Leaf krijgt nu een 62 kWh accupack -amper 5 mm groter- in dezelfde bodemruimte geduwd. En een veel zwaardere motor.
Helaas nog steeds zonder actief batterijmanagement (BMS). Enkel passieve koeling.
Naja wachten wat de markt doet, ze verkopen er nog altijd meer dan 8000 per maand (8276: November 2018). Het zal wel de laatste versie zijn met die oude LG-accucellen.
Die versie was hoognodig want GM Bolt Ev, Hyundai Kia Niro, Hyundai Kona hadden al 60+ kWh accupacks. En de Tesla 3 basis zal ook in die prijsklasse en range zitten, en vermoedelijk halfweg 2019 uitkomen.
De Nissan Leaf is in 2010 begonnen met 24 kWh in zijn eerste versie met die kikkerogen... maar ondertussen hebben ze er wel 400.000 van verkocht, de 40 kWh versie krijgt er nu een long range versie van 62 kWh bij, bovendien krachtiger en kan nu ook tot 100 kW DC-snelladen.
Het promoplaatje van de batterijevolutie is wel veelzeggend maar toch geraakt Nissan toch wat achterop qua techniek. Een actieve BMS zou natuurlijk meer plaats vergen en de wagen duurder maken en de laadprestaties en duurzaamheid verbeteren...
Citaat:
https://electrek.co/2019/01/08/nissan-leaf-plus-62kwh/
2019 LEAF Specs
Here are the goods from the spec department:
- 62kWh battery pack that is only 5mm bigger than the 40kWh pack in the current LEAF
- 160kW motor (215hp)
- 226 mile estimated range
- 70kW CHAdeMO charging with 100kW peak
Also some PR that dances around some things like price (which we’ve heard is around $36,000) and 0-60 time (which I’ve heard is 6 “plus” -ish seconds).
The high-capacity battery and more powerful, 160 kW motor in the LEAF e+ combine to produce 45 percent more power and 250 lb-ft (340 Nm) of torque, enabling faster acceleration when driving at high speeds. Accelerating from 50 mph (80 kph) to 75 mph (120 kph) is nearly 13 percent quicker. This allows the LEAF e+ to confidently pass slower-moving vehicles, exit corners faster and more seamlessly, and merge easily with fast-moving traffic. The top speed has increased by approximately 10 percent for comfortable cruising.
The new powertrain adds not only 160kW speed but about 40% more range with only a minuscule (5mm) amount of additional space taken up. Nissan is using the same LG cells but has them packed tighter. I had a chance to talk to Kazuhiro Doi, Nissan’s Alliance Global Director of Research about the new battery pack. Some details:
The battery pack cells are made by LG and are still passively cooled, which has been an issue in the past. However, Doi says Nissan has learned a lot in the almost decade of the LEAF and now believes that, even with the tighter pack, batteries will keep their capacity longer than ever. Nissan offers a 8 years/160,000 km (whichever occurs first) warranty on the battery
The Battery Management System or BMS, which is Nissan’s own and most important factor in retaining charge as well as powering the motor. This is the big Nissan edge as they have a decade of real world experience here. This controls the charge and discharge of the battery which is integral not only to acceleration but also charging. Nissan’s own motor and motor controller also play a big part in acceleration and Nissan brings a ton of its variable speed transmission work into play here.
Nissan recently switched from its own sourced battery pack to those being supplied by LG and the open market. Nissan did the math and decided that batteries were becoming a commodity and that they could save time and money sourcing from other vendors. The flip side is that they are now beholden to the same battery market as its competitors and can’t hope to innovate there.
Electrek’s take:
First of all, it was very nice of Nissan to invite us out to the show and put us up for CES 2019. I don’t think there is another mainstream automaker that genuinely wants to sell EVs more than Nissan – even as its former chairman and EV advocate Carlos Ghosn was removed from the company.
In the US, the 62kWh Leaf Plus models will face stiff competition from the established but smaller Chevy Bolt and the extremely constrained Hyundai Kona. Both of these vehicles are solid but seem to be constrained by their manufacturers for ZEV status rather than being equal status cars. Nissan will be marketing these new LEAFs as well as the 40kWh versions just like any other car, if not moreso. I love this.
Nissan will sell these across the country in its established dealer network. These dealers have been selling electric cars for a decade so they are versed in EVs a lot more than Hyundai/Kia and since they actually want to sell the vehicle, the buying experience will be a lot better than you’d get at a Chevy or BMW dealer, by and large.
Nissan also offers ProPILOT driver assist which other mass market vehicles don’t offer. Nissan describes ProPilot:
Playing a leading role in Nissan Intelligent Driving is ProPILOT Assist, an in-lane semi-autonomous driving technology that can automatically adjust the distance to the vehicle ahead, using a speed preset by the driver (between about 18 mph and 62 mph). ProPILOT Assist can also help the driver steer and keep the vehicle centered in its lane. If the car in front stops, ProPILOT Assist can automatically apply the brakes to bring the vehicle to a full halt if necessary. After coming to a full stop, the vehicle can remain in place even if the driver’s foot is off the brake. If traffic restarts, the car will resume driving when the driver touches the steering wheel-mounted ProPILOT Assist switch again or lightly presses the accelerator to activate the system. All these functions can reduce stress when driving on the highway in both heavy and fast-moving traffic.
Nissan LEAF Plus concerns
Some concerns do arise however. I would have liked to see Nissan acknowledge the battery degradation issue more and was hoping to hear about active cooling/heating of the battery. Talking to the head of research about this, he seemed to not be concerned at all, but I’m still a little wary. The 8 years/160,000 km battery warranty helps. I would have also liked to have learned a little more about this car since I came all this way. I don’t yet have a price or a 0-60 on a car that touts its speed and power over previous models and the competition.
Also, Nissan is about the last hope for CHAdeMO fast charging standard in the US in what I consider to be a lost battle. Even Electrify America is only putting out 1 50kW CHAdeMO charger on its charging stations, so it will become harder and harder to find a place to fast charge in the US, let alone at its advertised 70-100kW top speed. Nissan deferred when pressed on this, but I hope to see a CCS-CHAdeMO adapter one day.
There’s also the Tesla factor in terms of EVs. The base Model 3, while significantly more expensive, also has a significant power advantage – 283 hp (211 kW) vs 215hp (160kW) for the LEAF Plus. The LEAF being a larger hatchback, more capacity and different styling will mostly appeal to a different type of consumer obviously.
The other thing to consider is Nissan Energy‘s car to grid technology which we previewed last month but isn’t yet available to consumers. Theoretically the amount of money you make from demand charge reverse charging could more than pay your energy costs.
To conclude, I love what Nissan is doing here. The LEAF e+ or PLUS is a compelling automobile for the masses that I wish Nissan had built a long time ago.
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