Nissan Leaf

Long-term owners

So far it still holds 100% its original charge capacity after 5 years and almost 40K miles.

Sep 2026 · comment

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Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 146 comments. Each links to the original.

1. If your use case for a vehicle matches the 1st gen Leaf, it blows away anything else except a bicycle in terms of cost per distance.

   Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Honda is killing its EVs – and any chance of competing in the future”

2. The used market is flooded with perfectly good Leafs, dirt cheap, the lowest yearly maintenance vehicle on CarEdge.

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Toyota is taking the Corolla electric”

3. Specifically the second gen "plus" models are great due to the larger battery meaning they have less wear.

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “How to buy a good car for $1000”

4. It's a shame the Nissan Leaf has so many privacy issues, because otherwise the price is good.

   Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Carice TC2 – A non-digital electric car”

5. So far it still holds 100% its original charge capacity after 5 years and almost 40K miles.

   Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Toyota is taking the Corolla electric”

6. It's a great little car, perfect for the daily short trips for which we bought it.

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries”

7. added enough range to eliminate range anxiety whilst tootling about the metro area

   Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Official: Ford's $29,945 Small EV Truck Is Called Fathom”

8. we've saved about 25% of the purchase price of the Leaf in spending less on petrol

   Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Iran war energy crisis is a renewable energy wake-up call”

9. still a great car if you don't need it for road trips or continuous long driving

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Toyota is taking the Corolla electric”

10. A used Gen 1 Leaf will cost you well under $10k for a car with 50k miles on it.

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Honda is killing its EVs – and any chance of competing in the future”

11. They can still be viable used cars for city driving and affordable to drive

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “General Motors Is Assisting with the Restoration of a Rare EV1”

12. We considered getting a used Leaf but my wife had too much range anxiety

    Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “Mexico Just Showed Off a New Cheap, Government-Backed EV”

13. If you don't need a lot of range, a used Leaf is pretty cheap as EVs go.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Tesla Roadster”

14. The main downside on long trips is the DC is chamedo, not standard ccs

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “BYD Slashes Price of Electric Car and Becomes Cheapest in Australia [video]”

15. It would have been perfect but for the slow and non-standard charger.

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Toyota is taking the Corolla electric”

16. Those 15 year old Nissan Leafs have terrible battery degradation, because they're not liquid cooled (hot = bad)

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “EV Batteries Are Defying Expectations After Miles”

17. The battery management system uses air cooling, so charging rates are quickly limited by the pack heating up.

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Nissan's third generation e-POWER powertrain”

18. Funny looking, less than 100 miles range, and slow charging via a port that never caught on outside of Japan

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Tesla registrations crash 17% in Europe as BEV market surges 14%”

19. The early generation Nissan Leafs (no battery cooling) did most of the work to tar EVs longevity.

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “EV Batteries Are Defying Expectations After Miles”

20. No one builds air cooled battery packs like the leaf had that were highly prone to failure.

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Diesel prices in U.S. top $6 a gallon for first time”

21. If I enable "privacy mode" in my Nissan Leaf I can't turn on the heater remotely.

    Criticizes · Oct 2026 · in “Police are using AI to pull over drivers for 'suspicious' behavior”

22. my wife had too much range anxiety, even for vehicles with 70 miles of range

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “Mexico Just Showed Off a New Cheap, Government-Backed EV”

23. Old leaf batteries are popular with the modding community. I have friends who who've done ICE to EV car conversions using old leaf batteries that still work fine.

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “How BYD Got EV Chargers to Work Almost as Fast as Gas Pumps”

24. The US market has the Chevy Bolt and Nissan Leaf each selling for about $30k new and can be readily bought for half that with used inventory.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Porsche Sold More Electrified Cars in Europe in 2025 Than Pure Gas-Powered Cars”

25. I like the looks of it because it appears to be a serious EV unlike too many which are just some company getting their toes wet.

    Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study”

26. Leafs didn't go very far on a charge, ergo they won't have a whole lot of miles in them, and they were otherwise reliable.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Diesel prices in U.S. top $6 a gallon for first time”

27. for the stated purpose (school run and getting groceries) and assuming you can charge at home, it might be good.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Tesla Roadster”

28. The Nissan Leaf's biggest problem is it's the only vehicle in its class worth considering, or available at all

    Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15”

29. This year it makes a huge difference but last year it would be barely a few percent cheaper than petrol.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Nissan's third generation e-POWER powertrain”

30. the Nissan Leaf, which was elected world car of the year, was the world's most successful electric car

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Tesla's 4680 battery supply chain collapses as partner writes down deal by 99%”

31. a freshly redesigned proper modern EV version of the Leaf at a surprisingly affordable pricepoint

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Why western carmakers' retreat from electric risks dooming them to irrelevance”

32. Leafs are the best case scenario. They're small, not heavy, and thus don't have much tire wear.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study”

33. The 2026 Leaf, which is based on the same platform, is pretty good in this regard too.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Worlds's first all-solid-state battery ready to power up production vehicles now”

34. Leaf 2 are nothing like that. Even base model with small-ish 40kWh battery is 30k euro

    Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Honda is killing its EVs – and any chance of competing in the future”

35. you can still get whole replacement batteries or even just cell replacements for them

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Accepting US car standards would risk European lives”

36. there are many mid-large metropolitan population centers where they are practical

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Mexico Just Showed Off a New Cheap, Government-Backed EV”

37. As an EV owner, and not even of a top end model (Nissan Leaf 220mi range model)

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “BYD Sells 4.6M Vehicles in 2025, Meets Revised Sales Goal”

38. have only needed an ICE vehicle twice, because of cargo capacity, not range

    Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “Rivian R2: Electric Mid-Size SUV”

39. You're better off grabbing the whole shebang out of a wrecked Bolt or Leaf.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Chevrolet Performance eCrate package (400v/200hp)”

40. if we were replacing the Impreza today we'd probably go for a 2026 Leaf

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Ford Has Steered Its Former EV Truck and Plant Plans in to a Ditch”