A New LEAF?

Nissan is coming out with a new revision of the Nissan LEAF. Few if any, brands have such a long history in electric vehicles. I owned both a 2015, and now a 2018 Nissan Leaf. Overall, they have been very reliable, surprisingly roomy interior wise, great operating economics, but far from a tech leader. Should I consider the new LEAF for my next EV? Perhaps, lets take a closer look at what might be on offer come the fall.

Back in 2010, the Nissan LEAF was the first modern EV. Before then, we had the “golf-cart” like Mitsubishi Mi-EV, or the hard to get RAV4, EV1. Now we could drive an EV on the freeway. The 2015 LEAF I owned, served my family quite well. As avid readers of this blog might have noticed, we took the 2015 all over Ontario, not bad, given it only had 6.6 kW AC charging, and a relatively small battery pack by today’s standards (24 kWh).

Recently Nissan released a series of teaser videos (source). And some youtubers got in on the action (source). While not an ideal source of information, after all, at the time of this writing June 2025, the specifications may not be finalized. But, we gleamed some information from these videos:

• Charging: 250 km over 14 minutes
• Shares the same platform as the Nissan Aryia
• 0.26 drag coefficient (current is 0.28)
• Thermal management, where heat is transferred from the motor/electronics/cabin/battery to where it is needed, or vented
• 54% battery -> 9% over 235 km of mixed driving (50/50 freeway (~ 100 km/hr) and main roads (~80km/hr)) => Rough range estimate of 520 km
• North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging port in North America
• Google auto integration
• Some V2X capability, outlet in the cabin, plus an adapter for charge port
• Two battery sizes: 53 kWh and 73 kWh, apparently usable (gross likely 60 kWh and 80 kWh)
• Rumoured pricing: 34k – 45 k $ USD ~ 46k – 60k $ CAD (source)

No word yet on battery pack size, but given the range, and that it shares the same platform as the Nissan Aryia, which also has two pack sizes. To determine efficiency and charge speed, lets discuss efficiency first. We need two numbers, kilometers travelled, and kWh consumed. Going with 73 kWh, and assuming that would get you 500 km, we arrive at 6.8 km/kWh. For comparison, my 2018 Nissan Leaf works out to about 6.5 km/kWh, so Id say with aero and other improvements, that 5% efficiency boost is very doable.

As to charging speed. Similarly you need two numbers, kWh into the car (or battery ideally), Again, going with the larger pack 73 kWh, and assuming say 0-> 50% in 14 minutes, we arrive at: 50 % x 73 kWh / 14 minutes ~ 150 kW. Which tells us a few things. The new LEAF likely has 400 V ish architecture (otherwise, charge speeds would easily top 200 kW). But with NACS being offered, 800 V architecture makes little sense as the vast majority of North American Superchargers are 400V stations. How much this matters, will come down to the specifics of the charging curve. For example the Ioniq 5 grabs more energy from a Tesla Supercharger than a Tesla Model 3 under specific conditions, even though the Model 3 has a higher peak charging rate (source). Hence, the 150 kW 2026 Nissan LEAF might be competitive particularly if it holds the charging speed deep into the pack.

Overall, the new Nissan LEAF is a contender in my book. Particularly as budget friendly EVs are few and far in between here in Canada as the Chinese are frozen out (source). While the new LEAF might even beat out the Kia-E-Niro on the Tramblant run (see this post), there is still some competition with a rumoured Chevy Bolt making a re-appearance (source), and of course Tesla, Kia, Hyundai and more making EVs. The price point however is unimpressive, but if you can snag a lease deal or get one used, would be much more interesting.