Nissan's Electric Vehicle Pioneer Leaf gets a mean make over with Nismo

With the debut of its compact sedan Leaf in 2010, Nissan was among the first manufacturers in the market who could be credited for the introduction of vehicle battery electric technology. The company, however, states that consumers deviated their attention towards other ‘flashy’ vehicles, Automotive News reported.

"We consider ourselves the leader, but I think we're the wallflower leader of EV," said Chris Reed, vice president of platform and technology engineering at Nissan North America at the CAR Management Briefing Seminar on Tuesday.

This could be accounted to its rivals such as Tesla, General Motors and Toyota who managed to capture the headlines with models such as Model 3, Bolt and Prius. Reading on the recent boom of EVs across the world, almost every company is making efforts to incorporate EVs bit by bit into its lineup. In such a situation Nissan is not likely to cross its hands and would act accordingly.

On July 18, Nissan announced the onset of sales of the Leaf Nismo from July 31 in Japan. The car which is jointly made by NISMO, the company’s in-house tuning wing, is claimed to have better responsive acceleration, custom tires and suspension for improved handling and riding comfort. Cosmetically, the EV gets an aggressive stance with new exterior and interior design.

The company claims that the new Leaf is the 'icon' of Nissan Intelligent Mobility. The project is a part of an attempt by the company to incorporate human brain-like thinking into driving making it safer and less stressful 

The second generation of Leaf which was launched in 2017 saw significant cosmetic changes such as a sleeker design combined with enhanced mechanics which included a new battery which boosted the range of the car on full charge by 40 percent to 150 miles.

The 2017 version of the compact EV also possessed an updated edition of Nissan’s ProPilot Assist autonomous driving features, as well as a new e-pedal technology that turns one pedal into an accelerator as well as a brake.

However, despite all the enhancements the Japanese manufacturer lowered the starting price of the car to $ 30,000, before tax credits.

READ: Maruti Suzuki Records Decline In Monthly Sales. Ciaz Performs Poorly

"We tried to find the right balance of range and price and package everything together," Reed said. "How to make  EVs that are accessible to all is a key for our company."

The current trajectory of the company plans the launch of eight new EVs by 2023. This would include a new model of Leaf by 2019 which would have a range of more than 200 miles.