Nissan may be planning to base a line of EVs on the platform of the next-generation Leaf, reports suggest, including a new electric SUV or crossover based on a concept vehicle that debuted back in 2012.
Autocar first reported that Nissan filed for the name Terra with the Malaysian patent office at the beginning of August. That’s the same name as the TeRRA Concept, an SUV it publicly unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 2012. Automakers often file patent applications in other countries in an attempt to avoid publicity.
The TeRRA concept featured a novel 4×4 powertrain in that the front wheels were powered by the Nissan Leaf’s battery system and electric motor, while the rear wheels were propelled by an in-wheel electric motor paired with a hydrogen fuel cell stack under the hood.
Nissan plans to reveal its second-generation Leaf on Sept. 5 and make it available at dealerships soon after. It released a fresh teaser video on the Leaf just yesterday, and while the automaker hasn’t released pricing or any technical specs, it’s expected that the new car will be offered with at least two different battery packs, one of which will be 60 kWh and provide more than 200 miles of driving range.
That’s an increase from the current Leaf’s top-of-the-line range of 107 miles from its 30 kWh battery pack. It’s also key to getting the Leaf, still the world’s best-selling EV, on par with the Chevy Bolt (250 miles) and Tesla’s new Model 3 (up to 310 miles in its long-range variant).
The new Leaf will feature two semi-autonomous driving technologies: its ProPilot Assist system, which offers single-lane driving assistance on highways, and what it’s calling its ProPilot Park fully autonomous parking technology — but only in Europe and Japan for the first model year of 2018.
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