2026 Nissan Leaf Prototype Drive: Can the Original Mainstream EV Catch Up?

Motor Trend

4 hours ago

After much teasing, the all-new 2026 Nissan Leaf has had made its global reveal, joining the Ariya in Nissan's small stable of EVs. And MotorTrend was among the first to get a tiny taste from behind the wheel.
The 2026 Nissan Leaf, now a sleek crossover, features a 75-kWh battery with a 303-mile range, improved aerodynamics, and a quiet drive. It offers ProPilot Assist 2.1 and NACS charging. The revamped Leaf aims to compete in the crowded EV market, emphasizing affordability and range.
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The third-generation Leaf has been reinvented from a frumpy hatchback to a sleek crossover on a new, advanced EV architecture. In addition to the new look—like a Tesla Model Y but cuter—executives say it has vast improvements in aerodynamics with its low nose and closed grille pointed into the wind.
The new Leaf is more muscular and substantial looking than its predecessors, too, with smooth body sides and big wheels—19-inch alloy wheels are available or go for the standard 18-inch wheels. There are rectangular signatures, like the shape of the digital taillights on the flush rear end with a high tail, and if you're not familiar with past Leafs, the design will look almost nothing like those, which have all been somewhat odd-looking yet also forgettable hatchbacks (see: the 2025-model-year red example below).
This Leaf has an expressive face with its lighting, and a jaunty silhouette. Upgrades include a panoramic moonroof with the Leaf name on the roof that casts a shadow on the seats for charm. One Easter egg: the two horizontal rectangular lights, followed by three vertical ones—two and then three—pronounced 'ni-san' in Japanese. Why The 2026 Nissan Leaf Should Be Better to Drive
The all-new Leaf uses Nissan's modular CMF-EV platform that debuted with the Nissan Ariya and was designed with efficient energy management in mind. It has significant range improvements from the original 2010 Leaf, which came with a 24-kWh battery and range of about 125 miles. The second-generation hatchback had a 40-kWh battery and then an available 60-kW battery, doubling the range. This third generation has a new 75-kWh battery pack and 214-hp, 261-lb-ft electric motor, boosting range to up to 303 miles.
The 2026 Leaf is now a more aerodynamic crossover with motorized flush front door handles, concealed rear handles, a flat underbelly, and a rear spoiler for a slippery 0.26 drag co-efficient, which Nissan says is best in class. The outgoing model's figure was 0.29. The Leaf does not need huge batteries anymore to go a long distance, says Alfonso Albaisa, senior vice president of global design, though, again, it does get a larger pack than before. Taking a Nissan Leaf Prototype For a Spin
We drove a camouflaged prototype earlier this year in Japan at a Nissan proving ground. We took it for a spin on a test track that simulated suburban driving with a straight section to give it a bit more juice.
Nissan officials say they worked hard to reduce noise, vibration, and harshness for a more refined and fuel-efficient drive with the third-generation Leaf, especially at highway speeds. That included the '3-in1' electric powertrain that combines the motor, reducer and inverter into a single, more compact unit for better NVH as well as better takeoff upon acceleration and for passing.
Acceleration is smooth and swift—not neck-snapping but perfectly adequate and in keeping with what you would expect from the Leaf. There is four percent more torque, but the bigger battery makes the new Leaf heavier, so the power feels essentially the same as before. There is no dual-motor option at launch, meaning every Leaf will be front-wheel-drive only.
The car handled well but did not feel overly nimble or fun in our short drive—again it was not long enough for a proper verdict. Perhaps we had overly high expectations with the new multi-link rear suspension. There was some body roll on the turns on our short course and the car did not fully isolate the driver from body jiggles on rough pavement. Engineers say the new suspension makes the Leaf it more fun to drive than the Ariya. We need more seat time and back-to-back evaluation to affirm this, and we should point out that the Ariya isn't particularly fun to drive, so the bar here is low.
Better motor mount insulation and cabin insulation overall contributed to a quiet experience. You could not hear the motor or gear noise. Serious Regenerative Braking
There are degrees of regenerative braking. The most aggressive setting would work well in city traffic, inching from intersection to intersection, but you want to dial down to a moderate setting for driving at speed. In the most extreme setting, the pronounced and immediate slowdown when you lift off the accelerator is too harsh to slow down for a curve. The immediate slowdown is jerky and abrupt.
While the Leaf does have almost a one-pedal drive setting, it does not bring the vehicle to a complete stop—e-Pedal Step requires the friction brake for that. Regular braking was effective and not harsh.
The new Leaf has ProPilot Assist 2.1 for hands-free driving assist with intelligent route planning that maps charging stations. We were not able to test the latest ProPilot system on our brief drive. Inside the 2026 Nissan Leaf
Because customers want to sit higher in their vehicle for greater visibility, the new Leaf has been raised a bit. Inside, the low instrument panel and placement of the infotainment screen were designed to aid visibility. The interior has bright colors and lights, and a pushbutton shifter on a lower section of the dash frees up space in the center console for more streamlined packaging. Moving the HVAC from behind the instrument panel to under the hood also freed up more cabin space.
We found it quite roomy inside, with a lot of foot space, a flat floor for easy ingress and egress, and extra storage, including a double glovebox. But that is the front seat experience; second-row passengers will find legroom is OK, but headroom is lacking. Second-row passengers get heated seats, HVAC controls, and two USB outlets in the upper trims.
There will be cloth seats in some models and others have been shown with a polymer that feels like neoprene or memory foam. A model on display in Japan had a nice fabric strip on the dash, above a leather shelf that supports the integrated touchscreen.
For the North American market, a NACS charging port is also integrated—the first time for a Nissan EV, and a huge upgrade from the current Leaf's J1772-style AC Level 2 charge port and weird CHAdeMO DC fast-charging port for which few public chargers exist—enabling convenient access to the Tesla Supercharger network and a host of other modern chargers. When Can I Buy the 2026 Nissan Leaf?
The global Leaf (pictured above without camouflage) will be sold in North America, Japan, and Europe. It goes on sale this fall in the U.S. The Leaf was considered a bold move when it debuted as an EV in an all-internal-combustion-engine world back in 2010. While it had a loyal following and was considered ahead of its time and when competition entered the market, its range was always pretty short, a compromise Nissan made to keep it affordable. As more EVs from other automakers began to sprout up, Nissan did not bump up the Leaf's range enough to keep up, and it was long ago left behind even among less expensive EVs, particularly Chevrolet's also-cheap Bolt, which is returning to the market soon to give Nissan further headaches, we're sure.
The Nissan Ariya similarly was passed by, albeit by a much faster-moving and more mature EV market. Designed to slot above the Leaf in the EV lineup, it did not get the debut it needed. The launch was delayed and the Ariya missed anticipated demand. Arriving eight to ten months too late, it found itself amidst more competition and in the middle of an EV price war led by Tesla, which was discounting its models and taking all others down with it. Ariya was thus priced about 20 percent more, which hurt sales. And because the Ariya is not made in the U.S., it did not qualify for full tax credits by the time it launched because the rules had changed their criteria.
Let's hope the new Leaf turns over a new one and avoids such missteps as it gears up to do battle with other affordable, decent-range EVs. Pricing will be key to the Leaf success, given that the Chevrolet Equinox EV exists offering up to 315 miles of range with a starting price under $35,000.