LEAF turns to the 2020s

Nissan's pioneering battery-EV finally gets styling, propulsion and feature upgrades that put it back in the thick of the expanding electric-car race.

Seven years is nearly twice the duration of a typical automotive product cycle, but it's been that long since Nissan turned a new Leaf. The original 2011 Leaf boldly pioneered 5-passenger practicality with nearly silent, zero-tailpipe-emission driving. Its operating range on a single charge, about 75 mi (120 km), suited some commuters (and the EV faithful) in thermally-ideal regions such as California. Drivers in colder climes, however, often faced the dilemma: “Do I run the heater or make it home on the rapidly-dwindling charge?”

Then came Tesla's Model S and the humble Leaf, despite a modest upgrade in range, got raked backstage amid Ludicrous-mode hoopla. Last year Nissan sold just 10,000 Leafs in the U.S. and it took until January 2018 for the car's six-year global sales total to reach 300,000 units. That makes Leaf the world's EV sales king, but battery electrics outside the Musk halo find it tough to earn mainstream converts. Globally they account for about 0.5% of passenger vehicle sales. In the U.S., the low retail price of hydrocarbon fuels isn't helping the ZEV cause, either.