From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, this is the Real Economy Report.

Sashnee Moodley:
The effects of global warming are driving the case for electric vehicles, or EVs, such as the latest zero-emissions EV from global vehicle manufacturer Nissan, the much-anticipated Leaf 2. Tracy Hancock attended the launch in Japan.

Tracy Hancock:
Launched on September 6 in Japan, the Leaf 2 is said to be a real alternative to conventional vehicles, as the 40 kilowatt-hour EV offers a 400 km range, 40% greater than that of the original Leaf.

The vehicle will be sold at the same price point of its predecessor, with Nissan, at this point, looking to introduce the Leaf 2 to the Southern African market in the last quarter of the 2018 calendar year, however, this has yet to be confirmed.

“The new Nissan Leaf drives Nissan Intelligent Mobility, which is the core brand strategy for Nissan’s future,” said Nissan president and CEO Hiroto Saikawa at the launch.

The dynamic design of the Leaf 2 is head-and-shoulders above that of its predecessor. Nissan notes that the philosophy behind the exterior design was to express clean and simple lines and a robust and sleek silhouette, creating the feeling of a high-tech device.

The new, zero-emission Nissan Leaf embodies Nissan Intelligent Mobility, the company’s approach to changing the way cars are driven, powered and integrated into society. The three key aspects of Intelligent Mobility exemplified by the Leaf 2 are Intelligent Power, Intelligent Driving and Intelligent Integration.

The focal point of Nissan Intelligent Power in the new Leaf is the e-powertrain, which offers improved energy efficiency and increased torque and power output of 110 kilowatts, 38% more than the previous-generation Nissan Leaf. Torque has been increased 26% to 320 Newton metres, resulting in improved acceleration.

Nissan’s Intelligent Driving technology is exemplified by its ProPilot, ProPilot Park and e-pedal.

ProPilot is a single-lane autonomous driving technology that can automatically control the distance to the vehicle in front, using a speed preset by the driver. It can also help the driver steer and keep the vehicle centered in its lane. If the car in front stops, the ProPILOT system will automatically apply the brakes to bring the vehicle to a full stop if necessary.

After coming to a full stop, the vehicle can remain in place even if the driver's foot is off the brake. If traffic restarts, the car will resume driving when the driver touches the switch again or lightly presses the accelerator to activate ProPilot.

ProPilot Park helps drivers park by automatically controlling the Leaf 2’s acceleration, brakes, handling, shift changing and parking brakes to guide the car into a parking spot.

ProPilot Park combines advanced image processing technology using four high-resolution cameras and information from 12 ultrasonic sensors around the car.

The e-Pedal allows the driver the simplicity of starting, accelerating, decelerating, stopping and holding the car by using the accelerator pedal.

By simply releasing the accelerator, the car will come to a smooth and complete stop and hold without the need to press the brake pedal, eliminating the need for drivers to constantly move their foot from the accelerator to the brake pedal to slow down or stop. This helps reduce fatigue and increase enjoyment, says Nissan.

The production of the Leaf 2, which has just started at Nissan’s Oppama plant in Yokohama, Japan, begins with the stamping of large body panels from steel sheets between 0.55 mm and 2 mm thick. One roll of steel yields body panels for 300 vehicles. The largest press at Oppama is 500 t.

The next step involves body assembly during which the vehicle shape is formed.
The highly automated Oppama plant comprises 500 welding machines, with 3 000 spot welds needed on the new Leaf.
Thereafter the body is sent to the paint shop, coating the body in paint 0.1 mm thick.
The assembly of the Leaf 2 involves the installation of 3 000 parts, with this part of the production process less than 10% automated.

The final stage is inspection, during which Nissan conducts 700 tests, including the inspection of the chasis, engine components, electric function and the exterior and interior.

For customers who want more excitement and performance, Nissan will also offer a more powerful version with a longer range at a higher price in 2018.  The new Nissan Leaf will go on sale on October 2 in Japan. The model is slated for deliveries in January in the US, Canada and Europe.

Sashnee Moodley:
Other news making headlines.

Local data centre and hosting company Teraco Data Environments is building a hyperscale data centre, in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, to serve regional hosting and cloud demand. Schalk Burger has the details.

Schalk Burger:
Teraco’s new 24 MW, 6 000 m² Riverfields hyperscale data centre will open in November. Construction had begun in January.

The data centre comprises six data centre halls, each with about 900 m² of technical deployment space and 100 m² of storage space. It represents about 20% of the South African-based outsourced hosting capacity, and will see the company investing $100-million over two years as the data centre gains clients.

Each of the six 4 MVA Teraco Energy Modules supplies power to a single data centre hall and each hall has its own set of chillers to feed cold air to the cabinets.

The 150-m-long, double-storey data centre facility is designed to use free cooling to reduce energy consumption when the ambient temperature is below a certain threshold.

Teraco CFO Jan Hnizdo provides the commercial context for the investment in the new data centre:

Teraco CFO Jan Hnizdo:

Sashnee Moodley:
That’s Creamer Media’s Real Economy Report. Join us again next week for more news and insight into South Africa’s real economy.