Electric cars need to offer a substantial amount of range on a single charge for them to become a viable mode of transport. There are expensive options available in the market right now that provide a range of up to 300 miles on a single charge but in a year or so the entry cost will come down for people looking to switch. Tesla’s Model 3 and Chevy’s Bolt will both cost around $30,000 and provide a range of 200 miles, and the new Nissan Leaf electric car will match them mile for mile.
Nissan has confirmed that its next-generation Leaf electric car is going to have a 200-mile range as one of the battery packs offered with the vehicle will be a 60 kWh lithium-ion pack. This means that there will be serious competition between the Tesla Model 3, Chevrolet Bolt, and the new Nissan Leaf.
The company is going to switch things up by offering multiple battery configurations, including the 24 kWh configuration that it offers with the existing Leaf that’s good for 84 miles on a single charge. A 30 kWh configuration may be offered as well with a range of 107 miles.
Nissan is yet to show off its new Leaf so it’s unclear at this point in time what this new car is going to look like and what additional features it’s going to have. Whether or not it has any semi-autonomous driving features remains to be seen. Nissan expects to launch the new Leaf late next year or by 2018.