2022 EV Niro vs. Nissan Leaf... Which should I buy?

[EV2 Brute]

Hi Everyone,

I am a newbie and am looking to buy an EV that is small, user friendly with physical buttons and decent cargo space. These cars fit the bill but I have issues with both. My main problem with the Leaf is the air cooled battery. I live in the SF Bay Area which can get hot during the summer. Chademo is not much of a problem. since I very rarely drive more than 100 miles round trip in a day. I am looking at the SV plus trim. I do worry about the Leaf's air cooled battery, however. What do people do to keep the battery "happy"? If you own a Leaf, do you find it reliable? How much maintenance might I expect the first year (and then after)?

The Niro has a CCS connector and a liquid cooled battery. I am most concerned about reliability of this car. Lots of forum posts mentioned a knocking sound in the motor. Some motors were replaced during the first year of ownership. Supposedly this issue was fixed by 2020 but I still find posts mentioning this problem in 2022 new cars. Plus, lately there has been a lot of press about Kia/Hyundai fires in their ICE cars. Sorry, but can Kia be trusted? No I am not a troll... just a person who wants a safe, dependable EV above all else. If you have a EV Niro, please tell me your opinion of it. Thanks for reading.

 

[Paul K]

It's a hard choice as both are good vehicles. If you rarely travel more than 100 miles round trip the Leaf will do it for you. It gets quite hot for a few months in Kingston Ontario where I live. There is no problem with the battery operating at fairly high air temperatures. The problem occurs if you take a longer run requiring more than two DCFCs. It will push the battery temp close to the red bars. The battery takes a long time to cool down on it's own. That being said the Leafs produced after the 2018 refresh have proven to be extremely reliable. I find mine a very comfortable body fit as well. There has never been a Leaf battery fire that I'm aware of.

I did test drive a Niro in late 2020 as winter was approaching along with the dreaded range loss. I really liked it and came a whisker from closing a deal but decided that the depreciation whack trading in the Leaf was just too much to handle. While there is a general perception that Korean cars are not as reliable as their Japanese counterparts things change over time and this perception may not be fair.

The Leaf is nearing the end of it's production life span so I don't know how this will affect resale value down the road. This is really not a good year to buy an EV unless you're old like me and really want one before you kick off. There should be a lot more choice and more technologically advanced choices once the supply chain issues to to get resolved.

 

[EV2 Brute]

Thanks for your response, Paul. I, too am old and "really want an EV before I kick off". Most of the new EV's I have seen on the market as well as the ones coming up are SUVs and/or use a touch screen for most driving functions. For nearly 17 years I have driven a Prius but the hybrid battery is almost gone. Time for a new car. I would love to wait (it is very difficult to find both the Leaf and Niro) but given my age and the fact that cars are getting bigger and more complicated, I hope I will be able to purchase this year.

 

[Jim Matthews]

I've driven my Niro EV nearly 30,000 miles in 18 months.

It's reliable. Lease one, rather than buy outright.

If you *must* buy a secondhand EV, get the E-Golf.

The Leaf plus would be the only Nissan I would consider. The older models are (effectively) obsolete.

 

[P&T]

We have both in our extended family (2022 Leaf SL and 2022 Niro EV Premium). Both have long comprehensive warranties that will cover any battery concerns, and both can exceed or fall below the stated range depending on how you drive them. The honest difference is driver size- the big/tall members of our family like the leaf because it fits them better, while the shorter members monopolize the Niro. I recommend driving them both.

note - the 2023 Niro looks cool, but they dropped torque by 103 pound feet. Maybe a leftover 2022 Niro?

 

[Jim Matthews]

note - the 2023 Niro looks cool, but they dropped torque by 103 pound feet. Maybe a leftover 2022 Niro?

I expect that's because the full output of the motor has contributed to premature wear *and* most of us drive ours in Normal or Eco modes - which limit torque in control software.

At full output, in Sport mode the Niro EV has tremendous torque steer.

 

[P&T]

I’ve heard that as well. I’ve always wondered though - why not just adjust the torque on all Niro EVs with a software update? Not that we would be fond of having torque reduced to below entry level Nissan leaf output, but that would address warranty claims over Kia’s 10 year warranty exposure more efficiently.


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