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The long-range Nissan Leaf, which will arrive for the 2019 model year, will get a boost in power and will be called E-Plus, the Japanese automaker has confirmed to AutoGuide.

Speaking at a special event promoting the automaker’s upcoming Formula E race program, Nissan’s director of EV Marketing and Sales Strategy, Brian Maragno, revealed some details about the anticipated long-range Leaf.

Maragno said the larger battery Leaf will receive the ‘E-Plus’ badge and will get a boost in power over the 40 kWh version. The 40 kWh Leaf is rated at 142 hp, but the long-range model will have 200 hp on tap. Maragno said the larger battery simply made it possible to have more power, as the more robust motor would drain the smaller battery at a quicker rate. If you can give it more power, you might as well, right?

“When you have a bigger battery, with more capacity, it just opens up the door to be able to have more output,” he said.

“A larger capacity battery lends itself towards two things. One is obvious: more range. The other one, which is maybe a little less obvious, but equally as true, is additional horsepower and output.”

Nissan also confirmed that the long-range leaf will be sold as a 2019 model year vehicle. The automaker wouldn’t spill the beans in regards to a debut, but you can expect to see it arrive sometime later this year or in the beginning of next year. It should have over 200 miles of range on tap, but Nissan has yet to provide an exact figure.

Asked if the arrival of the more powerful, long-range Leaf opens the door for the arrival of the Leaf Nismo in North America, Maragno stayed tight-lipped, only saying Nissan has yet to make a decision on whether or not the vehicle will arrive.

“We haven’t made any announcements in the US relative to a Nismo version of the car, so who knows what will happen, but there’s really no announcement there,” he said.

SEE ALSO: 2018 Nissan Leaf Review

As for Nissan’s Formula E efforts – they go hand-in-hand with its successful electric program. No one has sold more EVs than Nissan, which has managed to move over 320,000 Leafs since the nameplate was first introduced in 2010. That means it has a wealth of knowledge to bring to the table in regards to racing electric cars, and for that reason, Nissan thinks it can win.

“It’s good old-fashioned competition,” Maragno said. “Formula E exists, and given our history with electric vehicles, and not just designing, developing and bringing them to market, but selling them, servicing them and all the things that we’ve learned having them on the road for all these years.”

“I mean think about it, 320,000 cars globally, it’s quite a bit. So we’ve learned a ton. When I talk about the competitive edge that gives us, the competitive drive, we have a lot to bring to the table. So it’s really an exciting type of venture for us to get into because we think we could do really, really well with it,” he added.

“And of course it helps round out the EV ecosystem for us. It’s another piece of the puzzle if you will. It represents what we’ve been doing for a long time.”

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