Nissan Leaf – a car that can power up your home

With the Union Government’s push for electric vehicles getting stronger, automakers are scurrying to introduce models into the Indian market.

The Hyundai Kona was launched recently, and if rumours are to be believed, Nissan Leaf might make it to India later in the year or early next year.

The Leaf will have a unique feature and that is the Nissan’s Vehicle to Home (V2H). The company, in a release, said that the system which allows Leaf owners to charge their cars when power demand from the grid is low, such as night, then use the power to run their homes during peak demand periods.

The Leaf links drivers, vehicles and communities through the user-friendly systems that share power between electric vehicles and homes, buildings and power grids.

In fact, Nissan recently demonstrated that by powering up a giant LED screen for the India vs New Zealand ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in Bengaluru recently.

The heart of the Leaf is the lithium-ion battery that has a capacity of 40 KWh. Nissan says that the cruising range is 400 Km (Japan standards).

With a 3 KW mains input, the charging time is around 16 hours, but that time can he halved with a 6 KW line. In 40 minutes, the battery can be charged from alert to 80 per cent.

The new e-powertrain delivers a power output of 110 KW, which is 38 per cent more than the previous-generation car. Torque has been increased by 26 per cent to 320 Nm.

The second-generation Leaf will go on sale in Japan on October 2 and there are plans to start deliveries in the USA, Canada and Europe in January.