Nissan announces new Leaf features as standard, reveals new US pricing

The Nissan Leaf is to become even more affordable in the United States after the Japanese automaker announced that the 2022 model will drop in price and receive more features as standard.

The Leaf’s new starting price has dropped $US4,245 ($A5,730) to $US28,375 ($A38,300) – which includes the Destination and Handling fee – and now comes with a CHAdeMO Quick Charge Port and portable 240-volt charging cable as standard.

Additionally, eight features that previously featured only in the Technology Packages for the SV Plus model – including ProPilot Assist and Intelligent Around View Monitor – will also now come as standard on all models.

Importantly, the $US4,245 price drop on the base model Leaf S is not the biggest of the Leaf range. The Leaf SV – the second Leaf model that comes with the 40kWh lithium-ion battery, a 110kW motor, and a range of 240-kiloemtres – has seen its price drop $US6,135 to $29,775.

Three more models for the Leaf remain – the S Plus, the SV Plus, and the SL Plus – each of which comes with the 62kWh lithium-ion battery and a 160kW motor producing 214-horsepower and 250 lb-ft of torque.

The Leaf S Plus boasts the most impressive all-electric driving range of 360-kilometres, while the SV Plus and SL Plus both boast a range of around 345-kilometres.

Each of these three Leaf models have similarly seen their prices drop as well. The Leaf S Plus has had its price reduced by $5,845, the Leaf SV Plus saw its price reduced by $5,095, while the SL Plus saw the biggest price reduction with its price reduced by $6,545 down to $38,375.

“Nissan was the first automaker with a globally-available mass-market electric vehicle and we’re continuing in the tradition of making electric vehicles available to everyone,” said Aditya Jairaj, director of EV Sales and Marketing for Nissan US.

“With the amount of technology that LEAF offers, combined with new pricing, this is simply just an amazing value.”

The Nissan Leaf boasts different model names in Australia, as was highlighted earlier this year when the Nissan Leaf e+ landed on our shores. With a 62kWh battery pack and a driving range of up to 385-kilometres.

Considering that Nissan US uses the EPA range calculation, and in Australia, Nissan refers to WLTP, arriving at a comparison is difficult.

But, with a price tag of $A60,490 before on-road costs, this would seem to suggest that the Nissan Leaf e+ in Australia is probably the Nissan Leaf SL Plus in disguise, given that the former US price for the SL Plus is equivalent to the current Australian price of the e+.

The Driven has reached out to Nissan Australia to ask whether we will be seeing similar Nissan Leaf models and price reductions. We will update this article as appropriate.