---
title: "Nissan Exec Hints at 200-Mile Leaf, Longer-Range Electric Car for 2020"
description: "The next Nissan Leaf will have a much longer range than the current model, and Nissan may launch a second electric car in 2020 that will top it."
date: "2017-05-02"
modified: "2017-05-02"
authors:
  - name: "Stephen Edelstein"
    job_title: "Weekend Editor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/stephen-edelstein"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/9871/nissan-exec-hints-at-200-mile-leaf-longer-range-electric-car-for-2020"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "compact"
  - "Electric Cars"
  - "Electric Vehicle"
  - "Leaf"
  - "Nissan"
  - "Nissan LEAF"
  - "Tech"
---

# Nissan Exec Hints at 200-Mile Leaf, Longer-Range Electric Car for 2020

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/01/nissan-leaf-hero-image.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com\</em\>*

The Nissan Leaf may have been the first modern mass-market all-electric car, but seven years after its debut, the Leaf is getting long in the tooth. Among other things, its 107-mile range is no longer enough to compete with newer electric cars like [the Chevrolet Bolt EV](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/6521/chevrolet-bolt-beats-tesla-model-3-to-showrooms>) and [upcoming Tesla Model 3](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/9289/tesla-model-3-be-revealed-in-final-form-in-july-elon-musk-says>).

[A new Leaf will be unveiled in September](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/8259/nissan-tweets-its-all-new-leaf-will-be-revealed-in-september>), and it's expected to have a much longer range than the current model. But in a recent interview with [*Nikkei Automotive*](<https://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/mag/15/397260/040300156/?ST=SP&rt=nocnt>), Kazuo Yajima, global director of electric car and hybrid development for the Renault-Nissan Alliance, gave an indication of exactly how much extra range buyers can expect.

Yajima said that when the next-generation Leaf debuts later this year, it will have a range of between 350 and 400 kilometers (217 to 248 miles). He also said that Nissan is planning a second electric for 2020 that will have a range of 550 km (341 mi).

Keep in mind that all of these figures are based on the Japanese JC08 testing cycle, which is a bit more optimistic than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's tests. The current Leaf can go 107 miles on a charge according to the EPA, but it's rated at 280 km (about 174 miles) in Japan. Still, the next-gen Leaf could very well surpass 200 miles of range on the EPA cycle, and Nissan's unnamed 2020 electric car could top 300 miles.

In 2015, Nissan unveiled a prototype 60-kilowatt-hour battery pack in the IDS concept at the Tokyo Motor Show. That's twice the size of the 30-kWh pack that is now standard in all Leaf trim levels, and the same size the Chevrolet Bolt EV uses to achieve [its EPA-rated 238-mile range](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/5182/the-chevy-bolt-has-an-official-electric-range-of-238-miles>).

Nissan will likely need to achieve at least 200 miles of range in order for the Leaf to stay competitive. With base prices under $40,000, both the Bolt EV and the Tesla Model 3 are right in the Leaf's price range. More broadly, electric cars will need to achieve similar ranges at gasoline cars without a substantial price premium in order to be truly accepted by consumers. Nissan led the first wave of modern electric cars—but right now, it's playing catchup.

## Author
Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he's not handling weekend coverage for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/SAEdelstein>)