Small, affordable, efficient: A lot to like about the 2026 Nissan Leaf

The $34,230 SV+ loses the panoramic roof and the interior V2L outlets, and you’ll have to manually open and close the tailgate at the back. And the alloy wheels are an inch smaller, which increases the range to 288 miles (464 km).

But it keeps the heated front seats and the twin 14.3-inch displays (one for your instruments, one for infotainment) with Google built in. For the Platinum+ and SV+, that means onboard Google Maps with a route planner that will take into account your state of charge and which can precondition the battery if it knows your destination is a fast charger.

Nissan is only including the Google connected services for the first year, though—after that, owners will have to pay a monthly fee, although Nissan wasn’t able to tell us how much that is. Conveniently, both wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are included and will continue to work after the year’s trial. And you can manually precondition the battery for charging, but automatic preconditioning via the infotainment system will not work without an active subscription.

The SV+ and Platinum can also be optioned with a heat pump ($300).

But the $29,990 S+ cannot. And it lacks the twin displays of the car you see in the images, which means no automatic battery preconditioning, although like the more expensive trims it does still have wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. You also get 18-inch steel wheels with aero hubcaps, and a range of 303 miles (487 km) on a single charge. See what I mean about wheel size and range?

How does it drive?

I’d very much like to spend some time in an S+ and an SV+, if only to see what difference a larger tire sidewall makes to the ride comfort. On 19-inch wheels, the ride was firm and translated bumps and divots through the suspension and into the cabin. There wasn’t much body roll, but your progress will be limited by the grip available to the low rolling-resistance tires—push too hard and the result is plenty of understeer.