Nissan LEAF arrival in Australia may be pushed out to 2019

Prospective electric vehicle buyers in Australia may have to wait until March 2019 for a bite at the latest edition of Nissan’s all-electric LEAF, according to the latest information from the Australian arm of the company.

Nissan officially launched the “completely reinvented” next generation LEAF in Japan September last year, revealing a mass market EV ($US28,992) with 400km range, boosted acceleration and a range of new technologies.

At that time, RenewEconomy was told that the new LEAF was expected to reach the Australian market in the second half of 2018 – although Nissan Australia stressed that that date was “still to be confirmed.”

As we reported at the time, the new take on the global best seller is expected to be a key player in the nascent market for mainstream electric cars – particularly in Australia, where uptake has been going backwards over the past couple of years.

One of the key factors behind Australia’s retrograde market has been the distinct lack of electric vehicle availability.

As Bryce Gaton noted in his article here, Australians wishing to buy an EV currently have only five models to choose from, three of which are in the prestige price range.

The new Nissan, as well as the Hyundai Ioniq, were expected to change that with their arrival later this year.

But new information from Nissan Australia suggests the LEAF 2.0 won’t reach Australian shores before the end of March, 2019 – at around the same time as Tesla’s own mass-market offering, the Model 3, is expected to hit the market.

Again, however, Nissan Australia says “firm dates are yet to be confirmed.”

The updated delivery schedule followed the news that the Japanese car maker is ramping up its electric vehicle production, with a target of eight new pure electric models to be rolled out over the next four years.

The company also said it was targeting sales of one million electrified vehicles – either pure EVs or hybrid models – annually by fiscal year 2022, with an eye to driving sales in key global markets including China and Japan.

The price of the new LEAF in Australia is also as yet unknown, and according to Nissan, won’t be announced until the car is launched here.