"We usually follow on from what Australia is doing, but I won't know the spec until we talk to the factory."
The NZ-bound Leafs will go into production in Japan in a few months; the Australian examples will come off the assembly line next February.
Nissan Australia managing director and CEO Dan Thompson told website GoAuto that the upgrades earmarked for the model-year 2012 Leaf in the United States will also be applied to the Australian version, which will be available in a single, highly specified model grade.
"It's not a big volume offering for us, so we're not going to muck around and try and do multiple grades," he said.
In the US, where the Leaf is offered in two grades, the EV is set to be re-equipped with a fast-charging port as standard fare on the upmarket JL model, with a cold-weather pack that includes a battery warmer and a heated steering wheel and seats.
The fast-charge port was previously offered as an option, but because most American buyers ticked the box, the system has been included as standard on the Leaf JL, with a US$3530 price increase that takes the price to US$38,100 ($46,000) in North America, where the lower-grade Leaf JV is priced at US$36,050.
Manley said the price in NZ for the Leaf hadn't been fixed. "We are still a long way out and haven't got down to price yet," he said.
The Australian Leaf will also get the full telematics pack that links the Leaf electronically via the mobile phone network, providing driver functions such as data on range and energy consumption, location of charging stations and using a mobile phone to turn on the air-conditioning or heater.
Meanwhile, the Leaf EV has provided the crucial last element in a business owner's attempts to become entirely self-sufficient on the remote Hebridean island of Islay, off Scotland's west coast.
The 130-year-old Bruichladdich whisky distillery uses a biowaste system to generate electricity by using the waste products from the distilling process. The electricity is generated by biogas formed by a process called anaerobic digestion.
Distillery owner Mark Reynier uses the home-grown electricity to charge his Leaf. To celebrate his carbon-free motoring goal, Bruichladdich and Nissan have produced a limited run of Leaf-labelled organic whisky.
"It was frustrating to be making such strides in being self-sufficient, when my car still needed the most expensive diesel in the UK from the mainland," said Reynier.
"The arrival of the Leaf has allowed me to be as truly self-sufficient as possible."
The Bruichladdich whisky distillery was built in 1881 and first brought electricity to the 595sq km island. Its ingenious Victorian design was so ahead of its time the same machinery is still used to make whisky.
The distillery's waste streams are all ploughed back into the business. Draff (spent barley) is taken by local island farmers to feed cows, whose slurry is spread on fields growing the distillery's barley.
Meanwhile pot ale, the watery waste product left over after distilling, is converted into biogas which powers a generator to produce electricity for the distillery.
During the process, microbes digest the "pot ale" to produce large quantities of high-quality biogas.
Said Reynier: "We are not eco-warriors but we wanted to see how we could do our part. Most schemes along these lines are hare-brained and have little commercial merit, but this one does. Though the technology has existed since 1860, only now is it economically viable on this small scale.
"With the addition of the Leaf, we're happy in the knowledge that we're doing everything we can, whether growing barley here on the island, organically and biodynamically, to be environmentally sympathetic both in our work and home life."
