300 miles, Faster Charging and Fastback SUV styling
Nissan has started trickling out info about the upcoming 2026 Nissan Leaf, the third generation of the EV that (sort of) started it all back at the end of 2010.
There were, indeed, other EVs, then. But except for the original Tesla Roadster they were mainly home-made assemblies. The 2011 Leaf (first delivery was in December 2010), in contrast, was the first mass-produced EV from a major automaker – Tesla was still a struggling startup at the time.
Nissan’s sold a lot of Leafs since then, although not nearly as many as the company had hoped. That pioneering EV didn’t keep up with technological advances in battery design and power management, has suffered from the several internal disruptions at Nissan over the years and most recently was overshadowed in the market, and in Nissan’s marketing efforts, by the Ariya EV that Nissan introduced in the U.S.in 2022 following a mid-2021 debut in Japan.
That second-gen Leaf was introduced as a 2018 model and is still for sale in two trims and two battery sizes and a maximum EPA-estimated range of just 212 miles for the SV trim while the S trim with its smaller battery is only good for 149 miles. On the upside, the Leaf S has the most affordable sticker price – $29,280 – in the EV market.
Leaf – Gen 3
So now comes the third generation Leaf, which is slated to make its global debut June 18.
Here’s what Nissan folks have said about the 2026 Nissan Leaf:
- It loses its hatchback styling and will now look like an SUV-styled “fastback” crossover with a fairly low roofline and a rear airfoil. Think Nissan Rogue in terms of size
- Range for at least one model will hit or top the 300-mile mark.
- It will not be offered with all-wheel drive.
- It is slated to hit the market in the summer of 2026.
- It will be built on the same platform as the Ariya.
- Mitsubishi will have its own version, lunching at about the same time. (That may lead to some pricing deals!)
- It will have NACS charging so will be compatible with what has become the new industry standard. Quicker DC fast-charge sessions on Tesla Superchargers and the thousands of CCS fast chargers that still remain, and will remain, in service. And no more hunting for a hard-to find and often not functioning CHAdeMo connector (all about EV charging).
- It will have flush door handles, a flat underbelly, active grille shutters, aerodynamic wheels and an impressively low drag coefficient of just 0.26 (for comparison, the Tesla Model S and Mercedes-Benz EQS sedans have drag coefficients of just .20, while a Jeep Wrangler is at 0.45 and an unmodified Ford F-150 is at .46).
- There will be an optional panoramic glass roof with infrared coating for heat shielding and electrochromic glass for dimming at the touch of a button (no sunshade required – or provided)
And a few things we can surmise based on what little Nissan has told us:
- It likely will have more power than its predecessor, which topped out at 214 hp for the SV Plus trim and 147 hp for the S trim.
- It almost certainly will come with two battery options, as does the present generation, but both choices will have more capacity (thus more pwoer and more range) that the Gen 2 Leaf offers.
- With its new platform, handling and overall performance should be several steps above what the Leaf offers now.
- It will probably get bigger infotainment and driver info screens than in the current generation – bigger is just the way things go with model re-dos these days.
- Pricing likely will start in the low $30,000s and not go much about $45,000 at the tp end – otherwise it would step on Ariya pricing, and the Ariya is supposed to continue to be a step up from the Leaf. Ariya pricing presently starts at $41,160 including destination, and tops out at $55,760.
Stay tuned.