Nissan becomes even bigger battery believer

Nissan’s belief in its batteries has risen to a new level. The automaker said that the Leaf's new 30 kilowatt-hour battery will be covered by an eight-year, 160,000km warranty. That’s up from a five-year 100,000km warranty for the current Leaf’s a 24kWh battery. The revised Leaf debuted at the Frankfurt auto show Tuesday.The new battery increases the Leaf’s range to 250km on a single charge, up from 199km now, without changing the car’s exterior dimensions while adding just 21kg in weight, the automaker said in a release.Nissan said it improved the new battery's range by 26 percent by updating the unit’s internal design and chemistry. A key change is the introduction of carbon, nitrogen and magnesium to the electrodes, which improved performance. The cell layout also has been changed.The Leaf ranked as Europe’s top-selling electric car in the first half, but volume was just 8,672 units, according to data from JATO Dynamics. By comparison, Porsche sold more Cayennes in the first half in Europe (10,071), which means overall demand for full-electric vehicles remains really limited.Nissan hopes the range increase and the 60 percent longer warranty on the battery will convince more people to put the Leaf on their shopping lists.“An up to 250km range opens the world of EV to thousands of drivers across Europe who before just weren't completely confident that an EV would work for them, Nissan Europe Chairman Paul Willcox said in the statement. “This extra range will make Leaf ownership an easy first choice, for many, many more drivers."

Nissan becomes even bigger battery believer

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