Accidental leak may have revealed 2018 Nissan Leaf specs early

Try as automakers might, all it takes is one fat finger to accidentally unveil a car well before its planned debut. It appears that might have happened with Nissan and its upcoming 2018 Leaf EV.

According to InsideEVs, the leaked information on the 2018 Nissan Leaf comes from Autobytel, which apparently uploaded specs to its live site way too early. The page has since been taken down, but screenshots of it are still all over the place, and they give us a better idea of what to expect from Nissan's new EV -- assuming the numbers are accurate, that is.

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Its electric motor, which still powers the front wheels, could put out 147 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque -- that's a bit sprightlier than the current motor, which has an output of 107 hp and 187 torques.

Its battery capacity is an alleged 40 kWh, which represents a 33-percent capacity increase over the current Nissan Leaf, which was fitted with a standard 30-kWh battery in late 2016. The 30-kWh battery has a range of 107 miles, and some quick napkin math would extend that out to about 143 miles on the 2018 model. It's a bit less than the Bolt EV or Tesla Model 3, but the Leaf will likely undercut both on price.

Speaking of price, Autobytel's goof-up included some pricing figures, too. The 2018 Nissan Leaf could start as low as $29,990 before any federal incentives, making it about $5,000 less expensive than its longer-range competitors. If you want the whole kit and caboodle, including Nissan's new ProPilot semi-autonomous lane-holding system, it'll allegedly run you $38,795.

Nissan neither confirmed nor denied the figures by email, saying only that pricing for the 2018 Leaf will be announced at a later date.

We won't have long to wait until we figure out what the real numbers actually are. Nissan intends to turn over its new Leaf (groan) on September 6.

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