2019 Nissan Leaf Plus First Drive

Twenty years from now, drivers will look back and chuckle when they hear the phrase "range anxiety."

When nearly every parking space in your town, from the GoogleBucks cafe to the Public Library Sponsored by Amazon, will offer wireless EV charging, and the cars themselves will travel 500 miles on a full battery, the fear of running out of juice will seem quaint, not unlike the existential gnashing that preceded the Y2K changeover.

We're a step closer to that era today as the 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus becomes the latest mainstream electric car to join the 200-Mile Club. With a larger battery capacity than its standard Leaf counterpart, the Leaf Plus offers up to 226 miles of range, placing it alongside competitors such as the Chevrolet Bolt and Hyundai Kona Electric that can travel 200-plus miles on a full charge. We'll throw the Tesla Model 3 in that mix as well, although the Tesla crosses the $40,000 threshold that we'd call "mainstream."

Where's the Extra Sauce Come From?

Except for increased range and more motive power, the Leaf Plus is essentially the same as its lower-capacity counterpart. But those two differences are significant. The Leaf Plus' 62-kWh battery adds about 75 miles to its range capacity, and the motor provides about 45 percent more power. The additional range should appeal to drivers with longer commutes and those with more unpredictable driving routines.

For those with short-range commutes or who just need a shuttle for their immediate area, the standard Leaf, with its 40-kWh battery pack, 150-mile range and lower price, will still suffice. That's the strategy Nissan's marketing team envisions anyway, and probably not far off from a real-world case use study. Don't need the extra miles? You don't need to spend the extra money.

The Leaf Plus' more powerful electric motor makes 214 horsepower, compared to 147 horses from the regular Leaf. Nissan says you'll notice this most at highway speeds, such as when merging or overtaking; acceleration from 50 to 75 mph is claimed to be 13 percent quicker. Zero-to-60 mph acceleration is also supposed to be quicker.

There's a little more torque, too: 250 pound-feet versus 236 for the regular Leaf. That's not a significant increase on paper, and Nissan doesn't call much attention to it, but it's the number that represents just how quickly the Leaf Plus can pull away from a standstill or initiate a quick maneuver. In this case, the more, the better. We've tested the regular Leaf and observed a 0-60 mph time of 7.8 seconds; it seems reasonable to expect the Leaf Plus to be in the low 7-second range.

To give the Leaf Plus extra range and power, Nissan engineers looked for opportunities in the Leaf's existing battery pack. The Plus' battery pack is just a bit bigger in terms of size, but it has 1.5 times as many cells for more energy density, facilitated by a revised design that allows for stacking more cells in a given module. More efficient stacking and laser welds created more space to store energy, while dashing some wizardry on the current flow has helped to reduce current resistance, and thus resulting heat, by one-third.

How Long Do I Need to Wait Around?

A larger battery means longer charging times. Compared to the regular Leaf, the Leaf Plus requires four more hours to completely fill up from a 240-volt Level 2 connection (a standard electric clothes dryer outlet, for example). That means about 11.5 hours for a full charge. Of course, EV drivers rarely start off with a completely empty battery. As with the Bolt and other similar EVs, we expect that overnight charging from a home Level 2 power source will be entirely suitable for Leaf Plus owners.

Another upgrade is that the Leaf Plus is capable of receiving 100 kW of DC fast charging. But you'll have better luck finding ice in the Sahara than a 100-kW charger with the Leaf's specific CHAdeMO connector — in the U.S. anyway. If you do, you could expect an 80 percent charge in about 45 minutes, or enough time to have a "cha" (tea in Japanese). For now, most non-Tesla Supercharger DC fast chargers in the U.S. flow at around 50 kW. On one of these, it will take only a slightly longer 60 minutes for an 80 percent charge.

Nissan is sticking with the CHAdeMO-style connector partly because it belongs to an investor group supporting the charging protocol. But Nissan also says it's because of CHAdeMO's bi-directional capability and Nissan's vision of a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) future where Leafs can send energy reserves back to the grid to use for powering homes and buildings.

How's It Drive?

The Leaf Plus really drives no different than the standard Leaf. That extra oomph from 50 to 75 mph? You'll really need to A/B the Leaf and Leaf Plus back to back to discern any noticeable difference. We've always found the regular Leaf responsive and powerful from just about any speed, although certainly it has less to spare as speed increases. The Leaf Plus offers a bit more peace of mind for quick bursts at high speeds, so it's worth considering for those of heavy foot.

Otherwise, the Leaf Plus retains all the handling goodness of the standard car, including the battery pack-induced lower center of gravity that makes the Leaf far more fun in corners and transition ramps than it should be. The Leaf's tires will give up before the body will. Steering remains somewhat numb and funky, largely owing to the Leaf's self-steering system, so it's not quite a road-certified go-kart. But for a car with a primary mission of no-emission practical utility, the Leaf Plus can be good fun.

What Else Is New?

The Leaf Plus isn't all about more battery and power. There's also a larger 8-inch touchscreen display with a customizable home screen, multi-touch gestures, and an updated navigation system that offers door-to-door direction (the system can hand off the current route to a smartphone for continued walking directions) and over-the-air updates.

ProPilot Assist also comes standard on the top-trim Leaf Plus SL (it's an option on the regular Leaf SL), which is Nissan's name for its combination of stop-and-go adaptive cruise control and self-steering systems. Other driver aids standard on the Leaf Plus SL include automatic emergency braking, blind-spot and rear-traffic warnings, and lane keeping assist. These features are optional on the midgrade SV trim but not available on the base S trim.

How Much Will It Cost?

Nissan hasn't disclosed pricing for the Leaf Plus at our publication time, only that it will be "very competitive with others in the range," according to a spokesperson. The Bolt and the Kona Electric both list for around $37,000, including destination, but before federal and local tax incentives that can shave the price to around $30,000. Although Nissan has sold 130,000 Leafs in the U.S. to date, the company isn't worried about hitting its tax credit threshold, meaning plenty of customers can still take advantage of the federal government's EV subsidy.

For the near future, Nissan plans to offer both the Leaf and Leaf Plus for what it sees as two different buyers: essentially, the short-range commuter and the long. Realistically, the cost of keeping two different battery programs around means the smaller-battery Leaf probably isn't long for the dealer lot. Act soon if you're looking for a short-range EV bargain.

The field of long-range EVs is opening, and the Leaf Plus is the latest to ease the range anxiety we'll all laugh about in the coming decades.