Why The 2026 Nissan Leaf Won Our Breakthrough Award
The 2026 Nissan Leaf is our inside EV’s breakthrough [music] EV of the year, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Not only is the Leaf the cheapest way to get over 300 miles of range with a [music] starting price of $30,000, the mid-range SV Plus model is really what I was thinking about the most cuz that car is about $35,000, but it comes with Google builtin, a synthetic fake leather, really comfy seats, great handling, great driving dynamics, it is comfortable on the highway, it’s quiet, it looks good. All of these things that you really wouldn’t describe previous generation affordable EVs [music] that way. In the past, if you wanted a cheap or small EV, you had to accept sort of [music] unacceptable compromises, right? If you wanted an old Leaf, you had to deal with the fact that it had a passively cooled battery, so it degraded very fast. [music] No fast charging or shade mo fast charging a chato. You have to accept either compromise or something that feels [music] cheap. And the Leaf just doesn’t make you do that. It feels nicer inside than the $35,000 Equinox EV [music] that won last year cuz it was such a great value. And now you can get a Leaf with a lot of range, fun driving dynamics, and a comfy interior for a really reasonable price that the average American can afford. I [music] mean, this car starts at $20,000 less than the average transaction price of a new vehicle, which is $50,000. [music] And the one you want is about 35, so $15,000 south of average. And for that, you just you get everything you want. You get all kinds of good technology. You there is an optional Bose stereo, nice panoramic roof, so you don’t have to get a bigger, [music] more expensive vehicle to get all of the features that people keep telling us they want. And I think that’s why we wanted to reward Nissan [music] here because there’s a lot of companies that have made affordable EVs, but usually with these big catches. And I think the Leaf is just the hairbringer of a new generation of affordable EVs where you don’t have to accept bad [music] driving dynamics or, you know, not enough equipment or bad range or no charging. This thing charges with a Tesla style Knack connector. [music] 150 kW that’s plenty. It goes very far on a charge and, you know, it could really replace your everyday car at a at a price you can afford. And if that’s not what the Breakthrough Awards is about, I don’t know what it is about,
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