One of the biggest considerations when it comes to electric vehicles, particularly if you live in Johannesburg, is driving range. Most options available today struggle to get over the 150 kilometre mark, and with the top performing Tesla vehicles yet to arrive in South Africa, options are limited. One of the front runners locally however is Nissan and its LEAF EV.

The current model available in South Africa comes with an 80 kW electric motor and serves up a driving range of 196 km. Now, Nissan has debuted a new model for the US which features a 30 kW battery powered engine. While that is more than half the power output of our local offering, it can still yield 172 kilometres from one full charge. As such, from an efficiency standpoint the new 30 kW model sounds pretty intriguing.

In the States, their current 2015 LEAF model features a 24 kW engine, and this upgrade is said to deliver a 27% increase in range compared to the older version. For now, Nissan South Africa has not confirmed whether this 30 kW model will make its way to South Africa, but its smaller engine would provide advantages from a charging standpoint, taking less time than the 80 kW version for a small difference in driving range.