The arrival of the 2019 Nissan Leaf with 40kWh battery on the Australian auto market this week marks another important step towards electrification of transport in Australia.
At a starting price (and we stress this is a starting price, and before on-road costs) of $49,990, it joins the Hyundai Ioniq as the only other EV in Australia that has an RRP of under $50,000.
A quick search on Car Sales indicates that you’re more likely to pay in the vicinity of $57,000 drive away, less if you’re savvy enough to talk a salesman down a grand or two.
That sounds expensive for what is essentially a medium-sized hatch – but then, with the electric powertrain you get the added advantage of less maintenance fees (electric vehicles have a fraction of the moving parts of internal combustion engine vehicles).
You also get, as with any other electric vehicle, freedom – freedom from the pump, from having to go out of your way to fill up at a price that fluctuates on a daily basis. Instead, you can simply plug in at home, likely at a pre-agreed rate with your electricity provider.
And for the new Leaf in particular, thanks to a deal Nissan has cut with charging infrastructure provider Chargefox, you’ll also get discounted recharging when out and about using a network being rolled out from Cairns to Adelaide, and even in Tasmania and around Perth.
To read the full story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven, click here…
