2026 Nissan Leaf road test coming soon.

I am currently driving a brand new Nissan Leaf for a few days, and the model I have is the Platinum Plus trim. Which is the top of the line for the new Leaf lineup.

I have been driving up to San Francisco on a small road trip and will report on the car in a few days.

From what you see above, it is obvious all Leafs are not created equal. While Nissan advertises a maximum range of 303 miles, mine is rated at 259 miles. The 303-mile rating is for the cheapest S+ trim with 18-inch steel wheels. The SV+ trim with 18-inch alloy wheels is rated at 288 miles. Of course, the largest 19-inch wheels from the Platinum trim lower things to just 259 miles. It’s pretty amazing to see such a drastic difference coming mostly from wheel designs and sizes alone.

So far, on the freeway, at “mostly” the 70 MPH speed limit, I saw around 250 miles of range. That’s actually very decent and reassuring for longer trips. The standard NACS plug makes it easy and fast to use the Tesla charger network, which is a big convenience advantage. Easy, but not cheap. If you don’t subscribe, the Tesla charging rates can be very expensive compared to other EV charging options. Still, even at the higher “non-member” pricing, it ends up being cheaper than gas. Even at the crazy Tesla non-member price, a freeway trip cost the equivalent of driving a car that gets about 55 MPG. Which is still quite efficient.

At home, it is so cheap that it is almost impossible to clearly track how much driving really costs day-to-day. I have been driving a Hyundai Ioniq 5 for a few months, and it’s honestly hard to even notice any difference on the electric bill.

As usual, please feel free to ask anything about the car. I still have it for a few more days and will do my best to answer any questions you might have.