Nissan previously announced a low (for EV) price of $31,845 for the all-new 2026 Leaf, but that was for the S+ trim. Where there’s an S+, there’s usually an S, and naturally, it’s apparently even less expensive—$4,630 less expensive, to be exact. According to CarsDirect citing “latest order guide data,” the 2026 Nissan Leaf S will start at $25,360 before destination or $26,855 after a $1,495 freight charge.
When S+ pricing was announced, it was already the cheapest new EV in the U.S. and a certified “screaming deal,” but the $27K S widens that gap even more—a hollerin’ deal, if you will. It’s worth noting that the $26,855 MSRP (before any government incentives or dealer-level offers, by the way) would be $2,780 cheaper than the last-gen 2025 Leaf it replaces. We’ve reached out to Nissan for confirmation and will update this story when we hear back.
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As of this writing, Leaf S pricing has yet to hit official Nissan channels, but the company’s spec literature says that instead of the 160-kW electric motor that comes in every other trim, the S uses a 130-kW motor that results in 174 horsepower and 254 lb-ft of torque. For comparison, the 160-kW motor makes 214 hp and 261 lb-ft. Leaf S also uses a smaller 52-kWh battery instead of the 75-kWh unit of higher trims. Range is TBD, but expect it to be shorter than the S+’s 303 miles. Less serious equipment also means the Leaf S is the lightest of the Leafs, weighing in at 3,955 pounds, 232 pounds less than the S+ and a whole 414 pounds less than the top Platinum+.
As for creature comforts, Nissan specifies that the S will still get dual 12.3-inch screens with standard wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto, as well as two USB-C ports up front. No sad penalty box displays for the base-base Leaf. ProPilot Assist ADAS and keyless entry with push-button start are also standard across the board.
A widely available, sub-$30,000 electric car that isn’t massively compromised as an item you’d actually want to live with has been a bit of a fever dream for the industry for quite a while. Now, it’s here.
Top graphic image: Nissan
A bit off topic but I rented a 2024 Sentra SV this past weekend and was pretty surprised how decent it was. I don’t know about long-term reliability, but it was a better rental than a Corolla I rented a few weeks prior. It was relatively quiet, rode better and had an impressive suite of driver-assist stuff and a not-bad stereo.
You know what, I’m actually really into this.
I’d kinda prefer the smaller motor and larger battery, but I don’t really NEED the larger battery, I would just pay a small-ish premium for it. Mainly I want a cheap EV to use as a daily when I don’t want/need my other vehicles.
I’d definitely prefer smaller, but I get that nobody else wants smaller, so I’ll deal.
The Prius and Leaf are looking more similar, and to be honest I am happy they are getting closer in usage.
I don’t hate this thing at all. I would at very least cross shop it against the new Bolt when it arrives but I’m no longer reflexively anti-Leaf.
We’re getting closer.
I could see us with an electric commuter of some sort eventually, especially now that my wife is commuting to an office 3 days a week. But a heat pump is 100% a requirement, and I’m pretty sure it’s either optional or unavailable on the Leaf (or at least certainly not offered at these lower price points). These may be perfectly fine for warmed climates, but an EV with no heat pump in the Northeast is somewhat useless to us. The Equinox still seems like a better value.
Also the question still remains, will anyone make these decontented EVs in any meaningful quantity? I’m still used to seeing nothing but high trim nonsense with 10-15k of options tacked on.
It really depends on how long the commute is. I have a Bolt in PA and yes the resistive heat murders the range but I regularly drive 2 hours away into the mountains when it’s very cold out and I make it just fine.
I think my biggest concern is a combination of battery degradation and cold weather impacts sort of nerfing the range on something like this. Great that it might do 160 miles in cold weather. But will it do 160 miles in cold weather five years from now?
To be fair, I live in a particularly hostile environment for EVs; long cold winters in a semi-rural area. I commute to an area that’s even more rural, where charging is basically non-existent. There’s just less room for error here.
Valid concerns, all. My Bolt is already 6 years old (it’s a 2019) but the battery was replaced at like 29k miles and I’m now at 56k. Degradation at least on these cars has been very minimal, I have yet to hear about even a high mileage example with real range impact. Early Leafs were really bad about this but GM got it right.
Even having a Volt since 2015 didn’t entirely prepare me for having a fully electric car – there’s range anxiety that stems from the unknown. I don’t have that kind of concern anymore but it took a while to convince my lizard brain to trust what the computers and ABRP were telling me.
I’m not entirely sold on needing a heat pump, even though we are in a cold climate. The times when we really need a decent amount of cabin heat, 0F or below out, is when a heat pump may not be any more efficient than resistive heating anyway. What really sucks on the Bolt is that the heater for cabin and battery is under the hood, so there is a huge amount of loss to the exterior.
I think when the heat pump would be quite useful is in the 20-40F range on long drives, when it can be decently efficient. At those temps though, we typically don’t need much more than heated seats.
Radiative heating directly in the footwells could be the best option, that is what I’m really hoping will come along. Hopefully I can rig up some homemade heated floor mats for this winter to try out.
With kids sitting in the back in carseats/boosters, heated seats don’t help much.
Heated footwells would be awesome though, it’s my feet that are always freezing in the car during the winter.
Makes sense, I guess our 4 year old is just used to a cold car in the winter since that’s just always been standard for her. At least her feet are up out of the icebox footwells though
That really sucks. They’ve been doing this since the 1st gen Leaf- putting the heat pump only in the higher trims and leaving it out of the base trim.
I’m not opposed. I could see something like this easily replacing the 2013 Prius as our daily commuter.