Automakers have been working hard to make EVs cheaper. So far, they’ve struggled to approach the cheapest gas-powered cars on sale. Paying less than $20,000 for a brand new EV has seemed like some crazy, far-off fantasy. Until now, that is.
Officially, the Nissan Leaf starts at $29,280 for the Leaf S, and $37,330 for the more luxurious SV Plus. Those figures already make it cheaper than most of the competition—undercutting vehicles like the Tesla Model 3, Fiat 500e, and the Hyundai Kona Electric. Anyone will tell you, though—the price you pay for a new car is seldom what it says on the sticker—and the Leaf goes a long way below sticker.
With the current discounts on offer, the Nissan Leaf is now the cheapest EV in America by a long shot. If you shop around and know what you’re doing, you could score a brand new EV for well under $20,000.
Discount Bin
Early in the new year is often a great time to look for bargains in the new car market. Dealerships will often have older models from the previous model year still kicking around, and you can get strong discounts on that basis. When it comes to the Leaf, though, that’s almost an afterthought. Even 2025 models are extremely cheap right now, and we’re not talking about Colorado specials either.
The cheapest example we spotted is a 2025 Nissan Leaf S, over at Marlboro Nissan in Massachusetts. At $17,505, it’s been discounted a full $12,530 below MSRP. That’s a wild saving for a $30,000 vehicle. $3,500 of that discount comes from the state EV rebate, but the rest is all from Nissan and the dealer itself. They want this car to move.
Maybe, though, you live in New York. Over at Nissan of Westbury, there’s an even better deal—a 2024 Nissan Leaf SV Plus for just $18,675. That’s almost $20,000 off compared to MSRP ($38,215). For your money, you get 63 miles of extra range and 67 more horsepower than the cheaper Leaf S. That price is so good in part due to a $2,000 New York rebate and a $3,750 Federal EV tax credit.
These aren’t one off examples, either. You can find the Leaf S for under $20,000 at multiple dealers, from Wisconsin to Las Vegas to Washington. In most cases, you’re getting a discount in the realm of $10,000. If you want the more powerful SV Plus, you can get even better deals. There are tons available for under $22,000 in Washington, and plenty for less than $25,000 in Florida, California, and Illinois. In most cases, you’re getting at least $14,000, if not a lot more.
So why is the Leaf so cheap? There are a few reasons. Nissan’s compact EV doesn’t excel in the range department. The Leaf S only achieves 149 miles on the EPA cycle. Charging is also a hassle. Peak charging power is just 50 kW, and you’ll need to find a fast charger with the now-obscure CHAdeMO connector to hit that. Otherwise, you’re limited to slower AC charging at just 6.6 kW by comparison.
The Leaf SV Plus is a bit of an upgrade, boosting range to 212 miles. It’s also got 214 horsepower compared to the 147 horsepower of the cheaper trim. Even still, though, it has the same charging limitations and old-school connector, and it doesn’t really have comfortable highway range either.
These limitations don’t make the Leaf useless. It’s a very competent city car, and very practical if you have home charging available. At the same time, it’s poor road tripper, and not the best car to use as a total replacement for a gasoline-powered vehicle.
Notably, it appears the discounts on the Leaf are coming from the top. Most dealers are listing these vehicles with $7,500 of Nissan Customer Cash and $1,000 of Nissan EV Customer Bonus Cash. Basically, Nissan is slashing $8,500 off sticker right off the bat. Combine that with a little incentive from the state or your dealership, and you’ve got a cracking bargain on your hands.
Despite Nissan’s huge head start in the EV market, the Leaf has never been a big winner for the company in the US. Sales peaked at 30,200 in 2014 with the first generation model, and have never reached those same heights again. The second generation model hit the market in 2017, and it’s mumbled long selling less than 15,000 units a year. The model is due for replacement soon, with the next version likely coming along for the 2026 model year.
Against that backdrop, it makes sense that Nissan would be running out the last of the existing models. Previously, we’ve seen cheap leases on the Leaf, but much of that was down to Colorado state incentives. This is a much more widespread offer available in many places around the country.
It seems for now that Toyota will hold the crown of the cheapest car on sale in the US. When it comes to EVs, though, Nissan is in the lead by a country mile. If you want one, though, you’ll want to move quickly—it’s unlikely these cars will last long with so much money on the hood.
Image credits: Cars.com via screenshot, Nissan
The market has spoken, and the dealers are finally listening.
It is tough to get a larger battery pack into a smaller car. Solve that problem, and I’ll start getting interested (until I see the price for THAT, of course).
Not that i would buy either but for the money I would come a lot closer to buying this than I would the ID buzz.
Most people are better off buying the slightly less but still heavily discounted Ariya. I did and it’s been great.
Is there a such a thing as an after-market charger mod? That would seem to be a useful thing to make these cars more appealing to buy . . . but probably also most likely to catch fire.
CHAdeMO. Still????
Hot damn. I’ve been thinking about a cheap runabout EV. The one in Westbury NY isn’t far from here.
Me neither, but it’s all yours. The negatives are big negatives, though not if it’s an accessory car I guess. Unfortunately we don’t have room for accessory cars.
If you get it, post here. I think it would be cool if an article like this actually resulted in a sale
Chademo is disqualifying, as is air-cooled battery. I guess for the exact right person this car could make sense, but most would be better off getting a lightly used Bolt EV that can fast-charge at any CCS1 natively and most Tesla Superchargers with an adapter.
There’s always a reason that a cheap product is cheap.
To clarify it’s a PASSIVELY air cooled battery, like what your cell phone has. The big advantage it has is a lot less thermal mass than liquid cooled battery packs, which means in places that are very very cold it gets up to temp quickly and stays there easily, which also includes charging from below freezing temps where it take minutes to start accepting a charge whereas the liquid cool battery packs can spend 45+ minutes hooked up to a super charger just getting up to temp before they can even take a charge (outofspec reviews did great testing videos on this).
Optimally the Leaf should have came with an ACTIVELY air cooled battery pack from the factory, sadly they didn’t do that and it’s performance and lifespan suffered in hot climates.
We made cars that relied upon contained explosions that were air cooled. Liquid cooling is not the end all be all, it became standard due to NOx emissions, but there are a lot of advantages with going with ACTIVE air cooling over liquid cooling for BEVs.
Seems like a distinction without a difference when the air cooled system that exists in his mortal coil on that car doesn’t work.
The passively air-cooled battery isn’t that big of a deal. Early Leaf batteries had severe degradation in some climates, but 2015+ batteries have generally held up fine (i.e. most still have 70+ percent of original capacity, and it is not hard to find a car that still has 85+ percent of original capacity). These batteries should still have a reasonable service life of 10+ years if you treat them well. Part of me thinks Nissan intentionally handicaps these cars with CHAdeMO ports. I presume degradation would become a concern if frequent fast charging was possible.
I agree a used Bolt (or Model 3 if you can get past Elon) is probably a better deal, though. I regularly see 3-year-old Bolts listed for $13k. Those are clearly a better deal than the Leaf.
Apparently these dealers are really trying to turn over a new Leaf.
They’re still FALLing flat for me.
That happens when once budding demand dries up and falls off.
Time to rake in the deals.