Nissan spearheaded the modern era of electric cars back in 2009, but after being swamped by competitors in recent years, the third generation has branched out into the crossover segment. Mark Smyth took a closer look at it in Sweden
The Nissan Leaf was the champion of the introduction of electric cars to the global mass market. Launched in 2009, the same year Tesla gave us the concept of the Model S, the Leaf hit the market almost immediately and went on to sell more than 700,000 across its first two generations.
Designed by Inoue Masata and the team at the Nissan Technical Centre in Japan, the Leaf showcased Nissan’s design language of ‘smart fluidity’, taking inspiration from nature, specifically the way marine life moves through the water. This focus on aerodynamics was key to maximise on driving range and efficiency, but the Leaf was able to benefit from the early adopters in the market, a market where it had very little competition.
Today it is definitely not the only leaf on the tree, with hundreds of rivals, all of which are going to make the new Leaf a much harder sell. That is probably why the designers have switched the former hatchback into the popular crossover segment, but Giovanny Arroba, VP of Nissan Design Europe insists it is not simply another crossover.
“We knew the importance of Leaf as the EV pioneer,” he says. “For us it is…
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