Nissan turns the electric Leaf into a hot hatch with supercar-like acceleration

By Ronan Glon Published January 9, 2019

1 of 11

Nissan Leaf Nismo RC — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nissan Leaf Nismo RC — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nissan Leaf Nismo RC — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nissan Leaf Nismo RC — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nissan Leaf Nismo RC — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nissan Leaf Nismo RC — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nissan Leaf Nismo RC — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nissan Leaf Nismo RC — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nissan Leaf Nismo RC — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nissan Leaf Nismo RC — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nissan Leaf Nismo RC — Image used with permission by copyright holder

In its standard from, the Nissan Leaf is hardly the most exciting car on the market. It’s electric, affordable, and practical, but there’s nothing about it that tugs at the heartstrings of driving enthusiasts. It has potential, however, and the Japanese firm demonstrated just how far it can stretch the concept of electric mobility by turning a Leaf into a battery-powered hot hatch for the track. It made its debut in November 2018, but we saw it for the first time at CES 2019.

Recommended Videos

The 2018 Leaf Nismo RC is a follow-up to the eponymous model introduced in 2011. Nismo — Nissan’s racing arm — cranked up the performance dial in order to make the new car twice as quick as its predecessor. It’s powered by two electric motors (one over each axle) that work together to zap the four wheels into action with 321 horsepower and a stout 472 pound-feet of torque. The result is a silent, 3.4-second sprint from 0 to 62 mph.

Nissan noted the RC shares its 40-kWh lithium-ion battery pack with the regular-production Leaf sold worldwide. It hasn’t quoted a range figure yet. Using lightweight materials such as carbon fiber to build the car allowed engineers to offset the not-insignificant mass of the battery pack. The RC weighs about 2,700 pounds, a figure that makes it nearly 100 pounds lighter than a Subaru BRZ and a whopping 733 pounds lighter than a stock Leaf.

1 of 6

Nissan Leaf Nismo Racer — Ronan Glon/Digital Trends

Nissan Leaf Nismo Racer — Ronan Glon/Digital Trends

Nissan Leaf Nismo Racer — Ronan Glon/Digital Trends

Nissan Leaf Nismo Racer — Ronan Glon/Digital Trends

Nissan Leaf Nismo Racer — Ronan Glon/Digital Trends

Nissan Leaf Nismo Racer — Ronan Glon/Digital Trends

It helps that there’s not much left of the Leaf on the RC. Every single body panel is new. Nismo made the front and rear sections removable for easy access to the motors, installed fixed windows, added LED lights on both ends, and dropped a sizable wing on the rear-end to create downforce. It’s the same story inside, where the dashboard is a piece of carbon fiber and a tablet replaces all of the instruments.

Don’t start saving up money quite yet; the Nismo Leaf RC isn’t heading for production. Nissan will build six examples of the car to use during demonstration runs around the world. You might see one lapping a Formula E track before a race or racing up the hill at next year’s edition of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. While Nissan hasn’t announced plans for a hotter Leaf, we wouldn’t rule out seeing one sooner or later.

Contributor

Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…

Topics

Cars

Nissan wants the 2023 Ariya to be its comeback EV, but the bar has been raised

Front view of the 2023 Nissan Ariya.

Nissan played an understated role in the modern era of electric cars. While Tesla gets most of the attention, the Nissan Leaf became the first modern mass-market EV when it launched in December 2010. But Nissan has squandered that early lead. The Leaf remains a decent car, but Nissan needed to follow it up with another model, specifically an SUV, that would appeal to more car shoppers. That’s where the 2023 Nissan Ariya comes in.
The Ariya is the long-awaited sequel to the Leaf, boosting updated tech, better performance, and an SUV body style to match current trends. But during the Ariya’s long gestation (it was originally supposed to launch in 2021), other automakers have come up with electric SUVs of their own. So while it was once a leader, Nissan must now follow the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Kia EV6, among others.
Pricing starts at $44,485 (with destination) for the base Ariya Engage trim level with front-wheel drive and the smaller 65-kilowatt-hour (63-kWh usable capacity) battery pack. Pricing rises to $61,485 for the top Platinum+ model with all-wheel drive and a 91-kWh (87-kWh usable capacity) pack, but all-wheel drive models won’t arrive until after the front-wheel drive models. Nissan hasn’t discussed plans to assemble the Ariya in the U.S., so it likely won’t qualify for the revised federal EV tax credit.

Design and interior
If it had launched even two years ago, the Ariya would have looked cutting-edge. Its rounded exterior surfaces make a nod to aerodynamics while still preserving the SUV look buyers love. It’s a nice-looking vehicle too, but so are the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Kia EV6, all of which have gone on sale since the Ariya was announced in 2020. Nissan is no longer a trendsetter, but the Ariya can at least claim a more SUV-like feel than those other EVs, in both its tall profile and high-and-mighty driving position.
More significant than the styling, though, is that the Ariya rides on a new EV-specific platform. In contrast to the Leaf, which shares some of its structure with gasoline cars, engineers could take full advantage of the efficiencies of an electric powertrain and maximize interior space. Like certain other automakers, Nissan also opted out of a frunk in order to maximize passenger space, moving components like the air conditioner under the hood to make more room in the cabin.
Rounded surfaces nod to aerodynamics while still preserving the SUV look buyers love.

Cars

BMW shows off an electric car with color-changing paint at CES 2022

A color-changing BMW iX electric SUV.

From engine sounds to seat massagers, modern cars let drivers personalize almost everything. At CES 2022, BMW is taking that idea a step further with a concept version of its iX electric SUV that sports color-changing paint.

The effect relies on E Ink, the same electronic paper technology used in e-readers. Millions of microcapsules approximately the diameter of a human hair are embedded in an exterior wrap made from laser-cut electronic paper segments, according to BMW. They contain negatively charged white pigments and positively charged black pigments. Activating an electric field causes different amounts of each pigment to collect on the surface, shifting the color between black, white, and gray with the press of a button.

Cars

2023 BMW iX M60 is electric, spacious, and surprisingly quick

A 2023 BMW iX M60.

BMW's performance-obsessed M division is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022. It kicked off its birthday celebration by unveiling the 2023 iX M60, an evolution of the electric iX that stands out with stunningly quick acceleration, a usable driving range, and a subtle design.

It takes a well-trained eye to tell the M60 model apart from the standard iX, which was introduced in 2020. Look closely and you'll notice blue brake calipers hidden behind version-specific aerodynamic wheels and a handful of M logos scattered across the exterior. The wings, vents, and generally muscular-looking design cues we're used to seeing on BMW's M models are nowhere to be found, and that's intentional.