One-Off Nissan Leaf Convertible Produced To Celebrate 1 Lakh Sales Milestone In Japan

The Leaf electric vehicle managed to do for Nissan, what the Prius did back in the 1990s for Toyota. It showed the automaker's prospect of building a practical EV while keeping it affordable and easy-to-use. No wonder that the Nissan Leaf is a popular offering in its segment globally and the automaker has now sold over one lakh examples of the Leaf in its home country Japan. To commemorate the special occasion, Nissan has produced this one-off Leaf Convertible, bringing a dash of flamboyance to the electric car. The Nissan Leaf is in its second generation and is being considered for India as well.

(The first generation Nissan Leaf was introduced in 2010)

Nissan also commemorated the sales milestone in the country with a forum focused on the creation of a "zero-emission society" yesterday. The Leaf Convertible remains a one-of-a-kind model and is likely going to be displayed more often at auto shows and events, than making its way to the assembly line. That said, the Nissan Leaf is the world's best-selling electric car with over 320,000 units sold globally since October 2010. The e-hatchback was originally introduced with a 24 kWh electric motor and a range of 200 km , which was later extended to 280 km and a 30 kWh motor in 2015.

The second generation Nissan Leaf arrived last year with massive improvements in design, following the company's sharp new styling, and a bigger motor and range. The current Leaf uses a 40 kWh motor that is supported by a 378 km range on a single charge. The DC quick charger can charge the battery up from zero to 80 per cent in just over half an hour, making longer trips possible.

(The second gen Nissan Leaf gets a radical design, more power and improved range over its predecessor)

Interestingly though, the car was embroiled in a controversy called 'Rapidgate', after it came to light that the number of times the Nissan Leaf's battery can undergo a quick charge in a short amount of time is restricted by the Japanese automaker. The restriction is apparently in place to ensure there is minimal battery degradation, which was a big problem in the previous generation version. Nissan is said to be working to fix this issue with a more powerful variant in the works that uses a 60 kWh motor and gets liquid-cooled batteries, as opposed to the current air-cooled ones to minimise degradation.

With the big focus on electric globally, Nissan will be developing eight new EVs as part of its M.O.V.E. initiative by 2022. The automaker aims to sell over one million EVs - pure and hybrids annually by the fiscal of 2022. Coming to its India launch, the Nissan Leaf has been in contention for a while now and the automaker is yet to confirm the launch on the electric offering. That said, the Leaf will come as a halo product for Nissan India and is likely to be brought in as a CBU.