I’ll go over the basics, price, size, pros and cons, reliability, depreciation or resale value , and give you a reason why I think the LEAF is a great buy.
The LEAF comes in two battery sizes. The 40 kWh model comes with a 110 kW electric motor producing 147 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque. The 62 kWh model comes with a 160 kW motor with 214 hp and 250 lb-ft of torque. The LEAF is front wheel drive and the transmission is a single-speed reduction gear.
The EPA range is 149 miles for the 40kWh model and 215 to 226 miles for the 62 kWh model depending on the trim. The S Plus gets 226 miles while the SV Plus and the SL Plus gets 215 miles of range.
Nissan doesn’t recommend towing with the LEAF.
Price - The smaller battery LEAF starts at $31,600 and the larger battery one starts at $38,200 and can go up to $43,900. I will talk about pricing a little later in the video because these are not real life prices that you’ll pay.
Exterior styling -
Interior - The LEAF’s interior has a familiar look of a Nissan product. It’s more conventional with lots of physical controls which in my book is a plus. It’s nice to be able to raise the temperature in the cabin by feeling the buttons without having to go through a touchscreen.
Size - The LEAF is 176.4” long. The Hyundai Kona EV is 12” shorter at 164”. The LEAF is a compact and the Kona is a subcompact. The LEAF has a lot of room inside. It’s got 41 inches of front head room and 37.3” of rear head room which is pretty good. There's a good amount of legroom in the rear measuring 33.5”.
The cargo volume behind the rear seat is 23.6 cubic feet. That’s pretty generous compared to the Tesla Model 3’s 15 cu.ft. and the Kona EV’s 19.2 cubic feet.
Pros -
The LEAF is available with a heat pump system that maximizes battery life in colder climates when you run the heater.
The real life pricing is what makes the LEAF an excellent buy. You can buy a brand new Nissan LEAF for $8,000 to $12,000 off MSRP. You won’t have to work hard to find a deal like this. These deals are common across the country.
I went on TrueCar and Autotrader and you can see these numbers. So no one is paying MSRP for the LEAF. And these numbers don’t include the federal tax credit that you get with the LEAF of $7,500 if you have enough taxable income. If you qualify for the tax credit, your net cost on your smaller battery LEAF could be in the range of $19,000 and the larger battery LEAF $22,500 range.
If you were to get a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus at $37,990, that’s the price you pay and there’s no deals to be had. There’s no more federal tax credit for Tesla.
So if you were paying $40,000, I wouldn’t say the LEAF would be the better choice between it and the Model 3. But for $17,000 less, I would argue that the LEAF is the better value.
Cons - The 0 to 60 miles per hour is good for a compact hatchback but not in the same league as the Tesla Model 3. The smaller battery LEAF will go 0 to 60 around 8 seconds and the larger battery one will do the same in 7 seconds. The Kona EV will do the 0 to 60 in 6.6 seconds and the Model 3 Standard Range Plus hits 60 in 5.3 seconds.
Don’t feel like the LEAF is slow. The Nissan LEAF will easily beat Volkswagen’s Golf with its 1.4L engine and the Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid to 60 miles per hour.
The 2nd weakness of the LEAF is the DC Fast Charging is limited to 100kW. The Tesla Model 3 is capable of charging at 250 kW. This is an issue if you want to use the LEAF as a travel vehicle. It will take 45 minutes to get from 0 to 80% charge with a 100kW Fast Charger.
Only other issue that I have is that Nissan uses an air cooled battery pack rather than a liquid cooled one. The first two years of the original LEAF had some battery degradation issues. All LEAFs from 2015 and beyond have an improved heat-resistant battery pack. The degradation issue does not seem to be a problem in all the 2015 and beyond batteries but just be aware that in theory, a liquid cooled battery pack would provide better thermal management under high heat conditions and may provide better battery life.
Nissan provides a 8 year 100,000 mile battery warranty including against capacity loss below 9 bars. The battery starts with 12 bars.
Nissan is going to go with a liquid cooled battery pack in the upcoming Ariya.
Reliability - According to Consumer Reports, the 2020 LEAF is expected to have average reliability. For your information, the LEAF has had much better than average overall reliability for 5 of the last 6 years.
Depreciation / Resale Value - This is an area where that great deal you got off of the MSRP can hurt you. The 3 year expected resale value of the Nissan LEAF is 44.5% of the original price. The 5 year expected resale value is 38.1% of its MSRP. The 7 year expected resale value is 27.4% of MSRP.
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