2016 Nissan Leaf EV Quick Drive Review

Bargain-hunting EV-intenders, your time has come. Despite gas prices below $2 a gallon nationally, incentives on EVs might be enough to add one back on your shopping list. Before the Chevrolet Bolt arrives late in 2016—or early in 2017 if you can’t find them at your local dealer—the 2016 Nissan Leaf available now offers more range than before, sending it back to the top of the affordable-EV pack. We recently took an extended test drive in a 2016 Leaf with its newly available 30-kW-hr battery pack and EPA-rated 107-mile range to see just how mainstream the best-selling electric really is.

Just before the Leaf hits 200,000 sales worldwide this year, Nissan has greatly expanded the car’s usability with a 30-kW-hr battery pack that adds 23 miles of range at a slight cost of 46 pounds of extra weight over the S trim’s 24-kW-hr battery pack. An EPA-rated 107 miles of range for the 2016 Nissan Leaf SV and SL (compared with the 2016 Leaf S’ 84 miles) leapfrogs the 2016 Kia Soul EV’s 93-mile range among affordable electrics that also include the Ford Focus Electric and Volkswagen e-Golf.

The 2016 Leaf SV starts at $35,050 including destination, but MSRPs aren’t especially relevant this late in the car’s lifecycle. Incentives on the Leaf—and the Focus Electric—put the car’s value into perspective. Before supporters of the $37,500 Bolt tout the car’s not-yet-verified claim of a 200-mile range, keep in mind local offers on existing EVs. Near us on the Leaf, as this is written, Nissan is offering zero percent financing for 72 months on top of $3,500 cash back. Should offers near you be similar, this makes the Leaf an affordable alternative for Prius owners or open-minded midsize sedan drivers ready for a change.

Lotto tickets, tire-pressure checks, and drive-through car washes become the only reasons to spend time at gas stations when you daily-drive an EV. And although the 2016 Leaf isn’t completely silent on the road, we can imagine stop-and-go commuting would be a different experience if the familiar sounds of an idling internal combustion engine were replaced by an incredible quiet. The only interruption to the hushed cabin is a high-pitched EV/hybrid sound that I didn’t find especially intrusive, but it’s something we noticed in a comparison test that involved a 2011 Leaf, 2011 Prius, and 2011 Volt.

Hit wide-open throttle from a stop, and the 2016 Leaf SL responds quickly after a tiny delay. The perception of acceleration while passing, say from 25 mph to 45 mph, is even more impressive. Back in 2011, we drove a 2012 Leaf SL that hit 60 mph in a Motor Trend-tested 9.6 seconds, but the 2016 Leaf SL usually feels quicker than any 0-60 times might suggest.

The feel of the brake pedal will take some getting used to, especially if you end up driving most of the time in the B mode, which makes the regenerative braking system more aggressive any time you apply the brakes or lift off the throttle. After spending some time in Motor Trend’s long-term 2015 Kia Soul EV, associate online editor Austin Lott commented that he spent most of his driving time in the B mode, going so far as to note that with that mode on, “you can drive without using the brakes in most situations.”

The same is true with the 2016 Leaf, whose dash layout offers three screens with various bits of info. The digital speedometer is placed at the top of the dash in front of the driver for optimal visibility, a modern set of displays below showing distance to empty, a power meter that shows how heavily you’re pressing on the accelerator pedal, and more.

The lack of a usable rear seat in the Leaf and even the new 2016 Chevrolet Volt might send buyers back to a Toyota dealership for the new Prius. In a recent comparison between the Volt and Prius, the Chevrolet’s lack of rear-seat space was a clear disadvantage—read the full Volt vs. Prius comparison here. Despite the attractive 17-inch, five-spoke wheels on the Leaf SV and SL, the Nissan’s styling or front overhang won’t win any design awards. Still, count me in the “supporter” column for those aerodynamically efficient and weirdly shaped headlight housings, which contain LED low-beam lights on the SL trim.

The Nissan IDS concept previews the next-gen Leaf, which should meet the challenge set by the upcoming Chevrolet Bolt. But don’t forget that car will start at $37,500 before options and potential federal tax credits. Although the 2016 Leaf doesn’t offer active cruise control or forward collision braking systems, the multicamera parking system Nissan has offered for years remains incredibly helpful. Too bad the Leaf has a rating of Poor in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s small front overlap test, but its three other Good ratings and an overall four-star safety score from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration improve the picture a bit.

When your significant other owns a plug-in or non-EV car, you’re tired of spending time at gas stations, and you’d love to listen to music in quiet as you crawl in traffic at 5 mph on a 65-mph highway, the Leaf makes sense as a commuter-car. If a sizable rear seat and active safety tech is important to you when purchasing a “green statement” car, the controversially styled Toyota Prius is worth a look. In our recent Volt vs. Prius comparison, the Toyota actually exceeded its EPA estimates of 54/50 mpg city/highway with a Real MPG rating of 56.5/53.4 mpg. Unless you’re especially dedicated to the quietness and midrange punch of EVs, we’d recommend a loaded 2016 Prius hybrid or a base-model 2016 Volt plug-in.

A few years from now, the electric-car landscape will look different as a semi-autonomous Nissan Leaf with a greater range does battle with the ambitious Chevrolet Bolt and updated and new entries from Ford, Kia, Hyundai, and Volkswagen. And that’s great for those who can wait a few years to buy a car—but when you’ve got the new-car bug now, it’s not much help. If you don’t mind upgrading your living space to handle the quicker-charging 220-volt option, the 107-mile Leaf SV or SL at a discount is a decent way to spend a few years with zero-tailpipe-emissions until EVs with 150-200 miles of EPA-rated range arrive at affordable prices.

 

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