Nissan Leaf 2023 Malaysia: Nissan’s electric hatchback gets new features and a lower price tag (VIDEO)

KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — Edaran Tan Chong Motor is launching the Nissan Leaf 2023 this week and this is essentially a refresh of its 2nd gen Leaf EV. Ahead of the official release, we managed to get an early preview as well as the full specs and pricing information.

The Nissan Leaf 2023 is officially priced at RM168,888 on-the-road excluding insurance in Peninsular Malaysia. Alternatively, you can also get it on a subscription programme from RM1,800 per month (without insurance and maintenance) on a 3-year subscription plan. As part of its launch promo, ETCM is offering buyers free 1-year JomCharge Membership worth RM600 and free ice-cool tinting worth RM2,200. Meanwhile, Leaf 2023 subscribers can enjoy the same perks with a 50% discount.

Similar to the pre-facelift model, Nissan Leaf 2023 owners can enjoy a complimentary 23 days of usage for the Nissan X-Trail SUV, Serena MPV and Navara Pick-up for each year during the first 3 years of ownership. This is great for the occasional interstate road trip if you don’t want to worry about the range anxiety of using an EV for long-distance travel.

The Nissan Leaf 2023 for Malaysia comes in a total of 7 colours — Stealth Grey, Akatsuki Sunrise Copper, Opera Mauve, Vivid Blue, Midnight Black, Burgundy and Pure White Pearl. All options have a dual-tone look as the roof is painted in Super Black.

The hatchback EV comes with a 3-year or 100,000 km mileage warranty as standard, while the Lithium-Ion battery gets an 8-year or 160,000km mileage warranty. According to ETCM, the Nissan Leaf has one of the lowest total costs of ownership with an estimated maintenance cost of RM300 per year on a 20,000km service interval.

New 17″ wheel design for Nissan Leaf 2023

What’s new with the Nissan Leaf 2023?

In terms of the drivetrain and battery, the 2023 model remains unchanged from the pre-facelifted version. It still gets a single electric motor driving the front wheels with 110kW (148hp) of power and 320Nm of torque. It has a rated 0-100km/h time of 7.9 seconds but the top speed is limited to 155km/h. Under the floor, the new Leaf for Malaysia still gets a 40kWh battery with a rated 311km maximum driving range (NEDC) on a single charge.

In the real world, you should expect somewhere between 220-250km of range from a full charge. That’s still more than the Mini Cooper EV and the Mazda MX-30.

Besides the new vibrant colours, the Nissan Leaf 2023 gets a full black aero front grille with an updated Nissan Logo, grey-accent diffuser, revised bumper and a new redesigned aero spoiler at the rear. The 17″ wheels are updated with a new dual-tone design and there are no more extra “Zero Emission” badges or blue accents to make it obvious that this is an EV.

Stepping on the inside, the biggest change is the new 8″ touch-screen infotainment system which now supports wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto via USB-A. Coincidently, this is the only USB port in the entire car and there’s none for rear occupants. The head unit is definitely larger than its predecessor and it still retains a 360-degree camera which appears to be quite low-resolution. Unlike most modern EVs that try to be overly futuristic with touch screens and touch-sensitive panels, the Leaf has a more contemporary interior that uses a combination of physical buttons and knobs. This is probably the most non-EV-looking interior for an EV, which can be good for drivers wanting to switch from petrol to electric with a shallow learning curve.

The new 8″ touch-screen infotainment system which now supports wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto via USB-A.

Another new update is its digital rear mirror which provides a live video feed from the camera mounted underneath the rear spoiler. The video feed quality is decent and this can be useful if you have tall passengers blocking the rearview. You can switch between the mirror and the rear camera by toggling the tab at the bottom of the mirror.

In the safety department, the new Leaf gets an additional Intelligent Lane Intervention and Intelligent lane departure warning which lets you know if you are drifting to another lane without using signal indicators. There are also six airbags, autonomous emergency braking and vehicle dynamic control as standard.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with ProPILOT Assist which offers adaptive cruise control. Instead, it still comes with passive cruise control which you can enable from the steering wheel. Another new addition is auto high beam assist. Although the battery capacity remains unchanged, Nissan has updated the AC charging port from Type-1 to Type-2, which is widely accepted at a majority of AC charging points nationwide.

However, the AC port still pushes a rather slow 6.6kW while the DC Fast Charging port still uses Japan-standard CHAdeMO instead of the more commonly used CCS2 port. The CHAdeMO port supports a maximum of 50kW and it takes approximately one hour to get a full charge. According to ETCM, there are currently 50 CHAdeMO chargers nationwide with 28 located in Selangor as of 30th January 2023. As a comparison, there are over 121 CCS2 DC Chargers nationwide.

The Nissan Leaf 2023 in Opera Mauve

Despite being about five years old, the current Nissan Leaf is still quite a practical hatchback with ample leg room for rear occupants and it has a spacious and deep boot rated at 435 litres. On top of that, the Nissan Leaf still comes with a space-saver spare tyre underneath the boot, which can be a lifesaver.

At RM168,888, the Nissan Leaf 2023 competes against other affordable sub-RM200,000 EVs like the Ora Good Cat priced from RM139,800, BYD Atto 3 priced from RM149,800 and the Hyundai Kona Electric priced from RM156,538. The new Leaf will be available at showrooms starting 11th March 2023. — SoyaCincau