CarBrandLogos archive · Nissan · 2010

NissanLeaf

The first electric car built for ordinary buyers in genuine volume.

Photo: Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Nissan history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Nissan Leaf, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Electric cars existed before this one, but they were compliance projects, conversions or curiosities. Nissan built a purpose-designed five-door hatchback, put it into mass production from October 2010, and sold it through normal dealers to normal buyers at a normal-ish price. Carlos Ghosn had committed the company to electrification years before the rest of the industry was willing to, and for most of a decade this was the best-selling electric car in the world, a position it held until the Tesla Model 3.

Nissan LEAF NISMO front · Tokumeigakarinoaoshima · CC BY-SA 4.0

Design and engineering

The engineering was deliberately unexciting: a front motor driving the front wheels, a laminated pouch-cell battery under the floor, and CHAdeMO fast charging. The one significant compromise was the decision to cool the battery with air rather than liquid, which kept cost and complexity down but caused real capacity loss for owners in hot climates, and prompted complaints about repeated rapid charging on long journeys.

2017 Nissan LEAF hatchback 01 · EurovisionNim · CC BY-SA 4.0

In production

The second generation of 2017 raised range substantially and introduced e-Pedal, which let drivers work almost entirely off the accelerator. Nissan also pushed vehicle-to-grid trials using the same CHAdeMO port, an idea most of the industry took another decade to take seriously.

2017 Nissan LEAF hatchback 02 · EurovisionNim · CC BY-SA 4.0

Legacy

From 2025 the name moved to a coupe-shaped subcompact crossover, following the market rather than leading it, which is a fair description of where the car ended up. Its real achievement was earlier and simpler: it proved the customer existed.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

2010–present

Body

5-door hatchback

Technical specification

The Leaf, in detail.

Production: October 2010 – present
Class: Compact car; Compact/Small family car (C-segment; C) (2010–2025) ; Subcompact crossover SUV (2025–present)
Body style: 5-door hatchback (2010–2025) ; 5-door coupe SUV (2025–present)
Layout: Front-motor, front-wheel-drive
Manufacturer: Nissan

Explore Nissan Read the full reference ↗

Badge at launch