2013 Nissan Leaf: Efficiency Up 15 Percent To 115 MPGe From 99 MPGe

By John Voelcker

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Last month, we learned about the changes to the 2013 Nissan Leaf, including a new base trim level and various equipment upgrades.

A few days later, Nissan unveiled the base prices for the different 2013 Leaf models, starting at $28,800 for the simplest Leaf S model.

But the car's EPA-rated efficiency numbers and all-electric range have remained a mystery, until now.

The Nissan Leaf website now shows that the 2013 Leaf electric car is rated at 115 MPGe combined, up from the 99 MPGe rating of the 2011 and 2012 Leaf models.

'MPGe' is a rating known as Miles-Per-Gallon-equivalent, meaning the distance an electric car can travel on the same amount of energy as that contained in 1 gallon of gasoline.

The 2013 Leaf is rated at 130 MPGe on the EPA city cycle and 102 MPGe on the highway cycle, for a combined rating of 115 MPGe.

The 2011 and 2012 models, by contrast, were rated at 106 MPGe city, 92 MPGe highway, and 99 MPGe combined.

The one piece of information that remains missing, however, is the EPA rating for the 2013 Leaf's electric range.

Nissan's website says only, "The average American drives less than 29 miles per day. The Nissan Leaf can get you much farther on a single charge."

And there's no range rating yet for the 2013 Leaf on the EPA's FuelEconomy.gov website, either.

The 2011 and 2012 models were rated at 73 miles, though some of Nissan's marketing casually referred to the Leaf's "100 miles" of range--a number owners rarely achieved in mixed use that included highway travel.

If we were to apply the same 15-percent improvement to range that the new Leaf has achieved in efficiency, range would likely be something like 84 miles.

But that's not necessarily how the ratings work, so this is one we just have to wait for.

We'll be watching closely to see what the EPA rates the range at. Will you?

[hat tip: Brian Henderson]

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