The EV segment has been on the rise ever since the year 2010 and that has helped the buyers to have quite a lot of options to choose from as many automobile manufacturers have started to view the segment as quite lucrative. Being the first fully-electric modern vehicle to hit the United States shore, the Nissan Leaf has been very successful amongst the folks who want to experience the EV segment on a budget. With the launch of the second generation of Leaf in 2017, Nissan had managed to fine-tune the moniker even further.
The 2022 Nissan Leaf, which is available for sale at a base MSRP of $27,400, comes in with five trim configurations and offers substantial changes from the 2021 model. The CHAdeMO quick charging is offered as standard for all the trims and the ProPilot Assist semi-autonomous driving mode is offered for SV Plus trim. There is a major price drop too. However, the powertrain, range, and design see no changes. Competing with the Ford Mustang Mach E, Chevrolet Bolt, and Kia Niro EV, here are 10 things you need to know before buying the 2022 Nissan Leaf.
10 One Of The Cheapest Electric Vehicles Out There
Even though the 2022 Nissan Leaf has a lot of compromises, what makes it an enticing proposition is due to the low price tag. Offered at a base selling price of $27,400, excluding the federal and state rebates, it is insanely value-for-money. With all the tax savings, you could have the base S trim for as low as $19,900.
We also liked that even the base S trim of the Nissan Leaf comes with a reasonable number of interiors, exterior, and infotainment features. There is also a long list of standard driver-assistance techs onboard. Most of the optional features and packages are pretty inexpensive too.
9 A Spacious 5-Seater Hatchback
The Nissan Leaf has always been considered one of the best in the segment in the comfort department. This can be mainly associated with the reasonably spacious front and rear rows and best-in-class length and wheelbase of the electric vehicle segment. The wheelbase of 106.3" puts it above the Hyundai Kona EV and Chevrolet Bolt EV, and that does contribute to the cabin space.
The high ground clearance of 5.9" makes it an easy car to get in and out of. The front row offers wide and well-bolstered seats with more than adequate headroom and legroom for the segment. The rear row could accommodate three adults with decent comfort as well. The 23.6 cu ft of cargo space tops the chart too.
8 Lower Trims Are Rather Slow
One of the major deterrents of buying the 2022 Nissan Leaf has to be the mediocre performance on tap. Under the hood of the base non-Plus trims of the Leaf lies an underwhelming 110 kW AC synchronous motor putting out a paltry 147 hp and 236 lb-ft of torque. The single-speed automatic transmission and FWD drivetrain are offered too.
These trims are not going to make you thrilled in terms of performance and acceleration, especially when you compare them to the other segment rivals. The 0-60 mph comes in 7.4 seconds, and the car has a top speed of 106 mph. This is nowhere as impressive as the Hyundai Kona EV and Chevrolet Bolt EV, both of which posted a time of 6.4 seconds.
7 Plus Trims Are Reasonably Powerful
The Plus trims of the 2022 Nissan Leaf come with a more powerful 160 kW AC synchronous motor capable of producing 214 hp and 250 lb-ft of torque. This helps the Leaf to give out a 0-60 mph time of 6.8 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 15.4 seconds, making it in the same ballpark as the segment rivals.
It offers a better rolling start than the lower 147 hp trims of the 2022 Nissan Leaf. Even with about 15 hp less, the 2022 Hyundai Kona EV punched out a 0-60 mph time of 6.4 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 15 seconds.
6 Range Isn't Very Competitive
In the initial years of sales in the United States, the Nissan Leaf turned out to be a compelling proposition in the electric vehicle segment as the competition was quite minimal. However, in 2022, the range and MPGe figures posted by the Leaf turned out to be the worst in the segment.
It provided a range of 149 miles with the 40-kWh battery pack and 226 miles with the 62-kWh battery pack. The trims with the smaller battery pack posted 123 MPGe in the city and 99 MPGe on the highways. However, the more expensive Plus trims offered 118 MPGe in the city and 97 MPGe on the highway.
5 Comes With The Latest Nissan Connect Infotainment System
The Nissan Connect infotainment system with an 8" touchscreen display comes with no changes from the outgoing model. This infotainment gets all the relevant features like Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, SiriusXM radio, Bluetooth, Siri Eyes Free, and hands-free text messaging assistant.
Handling the audio is a 4-speaker or 6-speaker system for most trim configurations. However, you can also have the optional 7-speaker Bose Premium Audio system for not a lot of money. The interface was decent for the segment and the audio experience is passable too.
4 5-Star Crash Safety Rating
Being constructed mostly in high tensile steel and aluminum and coming with a long list of standard safety and driver-assistance techs, the 2022 Nissan Leaf received an excellent crash safety rating in both the NHTSA and IIHS crash tests. NHTSA gave it a 5-star overall crash safety rating with impressive ratings in all the subsections.
Even the IIHS gave it a good rating in most of the subsections; however, it wasn't selected as the top safety pick of the segment. The standard driver-assistance features include automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blindspot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keeping assist, and lane departure warning.
3 Excellent Reliability
The Nissan Leaf has been perfected all these years, and the model is now a superb proposition in terms of reliability. This 2022 iteration received zero recalls and even the outgoing 2021 model year received no recalls. Customer complaints were quite minimal when compared to the rivals in the segment.
Even though the 2022 Nissan Leaf hasn't been rated by JD Power yet, the older model years from the same generation received an overall consumer rating of 79 out of 100, with a similar average score of 79 in the quality & reliability section.
2 Gets Regenerative Braking System
Multiple levels of regenerative braking are offered for all the trims of the 2022 Nissan Leaf, and it works perfectly well. The speeds are reduced well with the highest level of regeneration and one pedal driving is possible as well.
Apart from that, the braking hardware like the 4-wheel disc brake setup with 11.1" front rotors and 11.5" rear rotors, brake assist, ABS with EBD, and hill hold control are standard for all the trims as well. All of this helped to post a 70-0 MPH time of 190 feet.
1 Not Exactly A Looker
The 2022 Nissan Leaf is far from a beautiful hatchback. It does feel long in the tooth, both in the interior and exterior, and feels a notch below the more modern rivals like the Mustang Mach-E, Kona EV, and Bolt EV.
The exterior design doesn't have much to complain about due to the typical Nissan design language with a sharp side profile, a reasonably sporty front end, and a well-rounded rear silhouette. The 17" alloy wheels, LED headlights and taillights, and blacked-out elements add to the design well. The cabin gets a black and beige color combination and is designed for function over form.