The 2022 Nissan Leaf Is Affordable Now

Nissan cut the price of the base Leaf by over $4,000.

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Photo: Nissan

New electric cars are currently not very affordable, and have never really been, as even with the $7,500 federal tax credit and various state incentives, even the cheapest EVs come in at over $20,000, often well over. Nissan said Tuesday that, for the 2022 Leaf, that will change.

Nissan said that the manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the base 2022 Leaf S will be $27,400, or $19,900 if you factor in the federal tax credit and even less if you live in a state like New Jersey that offers state credits as well. That is getting the 149-mile range Leaf down to a pricing range — mid- to high-teens — where you used to be able to buy lots of cars, but not so many in recent years.

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Here’s the full pricing chart for 2022 Leafs:

Image for article titled The 2022 Nissan Leaf Is Affordable Now
Photo: Nissan
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This is good news, but also probably signals that Nissan is getting close to the 200,000-EV threshold, when the federal tax credit begins to phase out, and, indeed, according to GoodCarBadCar.net, Nissan has sold a little over 160,000 Leafs in the U.S. At the current pace, it may not cross 200,000 for another few years, though the pace will pick up, and maybe considerably, with the American launch of the all-electric Ariya.

One other thing to consider about the 2022 Leaf is that, for some reason, it still has a CHAdeMO fast-charging port, even as the world (and Nissan, with the Ariya) moves on to the CCS standard. That means that if you keep your 2022 Leaf for longer than a few years you might not reap all of the benefits as America’s charging network gets bigger. Still, that price though, with the incentives, is as good as we’ve ever seen on a new EV; get in with the federal tax credit while you can.