2026 Leaf

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Bruce M.

Bruce M.

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A number of sites have posted first-drive reviews of the new Leaf, and it looks interesting to me. I like small cars (currently have a 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric), and there aren't many little EVs for sale in the US right now. I won't be looking for a new car for at least a year, but when I do, I will definitely consider the new Leaf. Anyone else?
 
I owned two Leafs. A 2016 and 2018. They were both good. I traded in the 2016 when the over the top generous Ontario incentives were coming to an end so the upgrade only cost me $8G. I opted for the lowest trim not aware that it used resistive heating instead of a heat pump so my winter range when I had to heat or defrost was pretty bad. All in all though it was a great car for the 5 years I had it. Never any hardware/software issues. In Jan 2024 I went to a VW id.4 for the extra range as I was fed up with public charging experiences.

My reason for not upgrading to the Ariya is that the lower cost trims were almost unavailable and the shitty experience early Leaf owners had when their batteries failed prematurely. Ok if under warranty but if not OMG! It would be hard to trust Nissan after that. I would like any EV I buy to have a servicable battery pack and to be assured that a replacement is available if needed during the service life of the car.
 
Obviously a premature battery failure would be disturbing, but I am not aware of that happening with the Ariya or more recent Leafs. Did I miss something? Many manufacturers had major battery issues as they were starting down the EV path, including Chevy and Hyundai. Is there some reason to be more wary of Nissan?
 
Bruce M. said:
Obviously a premature battery failure would be disturbing, but I am not aware of that happening with the Ariya or more recent Leafs. Did I miss something? Many manufacturers had major battery issues as they were starting down the EV path, including Chevy and Hyundai. Is there some reason to be more wary of Nissan?
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I don't think there's any reason to be wary of the current crop of Nissan batteries. With me it was more of a case of being disgusted with their business practices relating to those owners whose batteries had failed after warranty. As such I didn't want to patronize a company that abandoned it's customers like that.
 
Paul K said:
I don't think there's any reason to be wary of the current crop of Nissan batteries. With me it was more of a case of being disgusted with their business practices relating to those owners whose batteries had failed after warranty. As such I didn't want to patronize a company that abandoned it's customers like that.
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I'm not familiar with the details. Did Nissan say, "Sorry, warranty is over, tough luck"?
 
Bruce M. said:
I'm not familiar with the details. Did Nissan say, "Sorry, warranty is over, tough luck"?
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In effect that's what they said but I think it was something like "Well you need a new car!" It was very difficult to get them to commit providing a new battery and the prices quoted were a significant fraction of replacement of the whole car. to You'd have to go back into the archives in this forum and the CBC to get stories from actual owners.
 
I’ve seen the reviews and it looks like Nissan got it right but I’m still not at all interested in it. Don’t get me wrong, I have an 2018 2nd Gen SL and I love the car, however I have no love for the company whatsoever. Nissan has done nothing to support past and present Leaf owners and the negative attitude towards Leaf owners extends from corporate office in Japan right down to the dealerships and sales associates. While I have over 200,000 KMs and have had zero issues with my Leaf in 7 years I am well aware that should I experience any problems with my car Nissan will likely not repair it and if they did the repair cost would likely exceed the value of the car. The energy savings and lack of need for most any type of maintenance means that I’m less than $10,000 in savings (about 2.5 more years of use) away from the break even point so if it lasts that long I’ll just sell it for whatever I get if anything goes wrong and buy a car from a manufacturer that actually gives a **** about EVs


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I will give it a test drive when it arrives in Canada later this fall. Specs are definitely impressive.

"Calling the vehicle the, “simplest, most intuitive EV yet” from Nissan, the Japanese automaker says it will be available in Canada in the fall.
Pricing has yet to be announced, but the vehicle comes with in the battery sizes: 52-kWh battery pack and a 75-kWh battery pack.
The latter will give 488 kilometres in range and will be available in Canada first, followed by the smaller battery.
The 2026 model will be made in Japan and, therefore, exempt from tariffs between Canada and the U.S."
Third generation 2026 Nissan Leaf coming to Canada
 
Well, now we have U.S. pricing, $29,990 for the S+ version with just over 300 miles of range. The smaller battery version will presumably be less. I will definitely consider it when the time comes, though hopefully the Kia EV3 will be here by then. The Nissan horror stories folks have told are concerning, but I have heard horror stories about most car companies. Nissan needs a hit right now. I wonder if this will be it.
 
Bruce M. said:
Well, now we have U.S. pricing, $29,990 for the S+ version with just over 300 miles of range. The smaller battery version will presumably be less. I will definitely consider it when the time comes, though hopefully the Kia EV3 will be here by then. The Nissan horror stories folks have told are concerning, but I have heard horror stories about most car companies. Nissan needs a hit right now. I wonder if this will be it.
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As we learned two months ago, Nissan is replacing the old Leaf's air-cooled battery with a liquid-cooled battery in the 2026 Leaf. That upgrade will eliminate the early-chapter foreshadowing of many horror stories starring the Leaf.
 
I talked to my local Nissan dealer at the local Drive Electric event a couple weeks ago. They don't expect to get their first new Leaf until roughly late January.
 
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