Nissan has said that it will no longer make the Leaf, but there will be no big changes for 2024.

Pros

• High-class ride quality.
• Cheap beginning price.
• Faster speeds and a bigger battery.

Cons

• Not enough driving forces.
• They need more scope.
• Quite a bit of cargo room.

Leaf cars have front-wheel drive. Current standards say that the base Leaf S has a 40.0-kWh battery pack and an electric motor with 147 horsepower. The Leaf SV Plus now has a bigger 62.0-kWh battery and a stronger 214-hp electric motor. It took an S 7.4 seconds to go from 0 to 60 mph on our test track, but the car feels faster because the electric motor gives power quickly. But it’s slower than the Model 3 or the Bolt EV. We’re sure that getting the Plus model, which is more powerful, will speed things up, but we will know for sure once we test one. With the Leaf’s e-Pedal, the driver can choose between two types of regenerative braking: one that lets the car coast when the pedal is pressed down and another that slows the car down and uses the energy to charge the battery.

The cutting-edge Nissan ProPilot Assist semi-autonomous driving mode comes standard on all Nissan cars. The Safety Shield 360 package of driver-assistance technologies can be added as an extra. Check out the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) webpages to learn more about the Leaf’s crash test scores. Some important safety factors are:

• Most automatic emergency brakes detect road users.
• It comes with blind-spot detection and back cross-traffic alert as standard.
• Cruise control that adapts to semi-autonomous mode.

The Leaf is made of a lot of black plastic, but its well-assembled design and uniform texture keep it from looking cheap. The gauge cluster has a big traditional speedometer and a 7.0-inch digital display that can be set to show a lot of different information. The seats in the Leaf are as soft as a La-Z-boy, and the back seat is big enough for two people. The Leaf has one of the best trunk sizes in its class, even though folding the back seat doesn’t make the floor flat for loading. We were able to fit 19 carry-on bags behind the back seat when the back seat was folded down. On the other hand, the Bolt EV had room for five people in the trunk and sixteen when the back seats were folded down. Even though the Niro EV, which looks more like an SUV, could hold a little more in our tests, the Leaf is still the best electric car.

The SV Plus we tested got 98 MPGe on our 75 mph highway route, which is more than the 94 MPGe the EPA says it gets on the highway. In our test, we got 180 miles of range. On the highway, EVs often get less gas than their EPA ratings.

All Leaf models have an 8.0-inch touchscreen screen that works with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Navigation is also available as an add-on. The latest Nissan Connect software interface is easy to use and reacts quickly to inputs, but it’s not very nice to look at. Audiophiles might not be happy with the Leaf’s base six-speaker system. You can get a seven-speaker Bose system, but it didn’t impress us during our test drive.

Regular 120-volt and 240-volt outlets can both charge the Leaf, but the charging times are very different between the two. With a 240-volt connection, Nissan says the bigger battery in the Leaf Plus and the regular Leaf can be charged in seven hours. As standard, all versions come with a DC fast-charging port. The 40.0-kWh battery in the Leaf S only goes 149 miles, which is pretty close. For some drivers with short commutes, this may be enough range, but the Long Range form of form 3 gives you more range. The SV Plus can go 215 miles on a single charge because its battery pack is bigger.

The best deal is found in the SV Plus, which has the strongest electric motor, the longest range, a fair price, and a good set of standard features. It has an 8.0-inch touchscreen system with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, push-button start, and automatic climate control. It also has keyless entry and automatic headlights.