Nissan Leaf Nismo Revealed To The Delight Of Everyone Waiting To Buy An Affordable EV Until They Got Fun To Drive

The Nissan Leaf has never really been a desirable car. It wasn't exactly a bad car, just one built to hit a certain price point. But the 2026 Nissan Leaf changed things. It offered more than 300 miles of range for just over $30,000, and when we drove it for the first time, it proved to be a solid EV and more fun to drive than you might expect. It wasn't exactly sporty, but maybe that could change with the introduction of the new Nissan Leaf Nismo. You can even get it equipped with Recaro seats if that's the kind of thing you're into.

For now, Nissan will only offer the Leaf Nismo in Japan, but none of the performance updates sound like they'd be difficult to bring to the U.S. Power is unchanged, with the more powerful single motor making 214 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque, or you can save a few yen and go for the version that sends 174 hp and 254 lb-ft to the front wheels. Either way, those wheels are now 19-inch aluminum Enkeis wearing Michelin Pilot Sport 5s. The Nismo team also tuned the suspension, adding sportier springs, stabilizers, and bushings, and giving it the same swing valve-equipped shock absorbers already included in the Nismo version of the foreign-market version of the Nissan Rogue. 

Nissan also says Nismo tuned the drive modes, so the Leaf should feel different even if you leave it in Standard or Eco mode. Sport mode, however, becomes Nismo mode and claims to "deliver powerful, linear acceleration unique to an electric motor vehicle." Plus, the paddles on the steering wheel now control regenerative braking. Put it all together, and you have a performance package that Nissan insists makes the Nismo-tuned Leaf "feel lighter and more agile than its size and weight would suggest." Throw in a racy appearance package, and the Leaf Nismo sounds pretty fun.

A few years ago, the idea of a Nissan Leaf wearing a Nismo badge would have been hard to imagine. Today, even though Nissan refused to move the motor to the rear when it redesigned the Leaf, I'm a lot more open to hearing them out. In fact, I bet the Nismo-tuned Leaf is actually pretty fun to drive. In photos, the new Leaf looks bigger than it actually is. And while the regular Leaf's power delivery is too first-time-EV-owner-friendly for truly spirited driving, it's at least plausible that Nismo's tuning will really let you use that 262 lb-ft of torque. 

We're talking about a $30,000 front-wheel-drive EV here, not a purpose-built sports car, but it was clear on my drive of the manual Nismo Z that those folks know their suspensions. More power is always great, but if you want to make a car fun, handling is far more important. Don't forget, Nissan already sells a Nismo version of its Ariya crossover in Japan, too. We haven't driven the Ariya Nismo (yet?), but our friends over at MotorTrend have, and they concluded that "[w]ith more grip, stiffer suspension, and more willing software, the Ariya NISMO is genuinely a more engaging car to drive." The same team working on a sportier Leaf sounds promising.

Nissan

Sporty, engaging EVs already exist, even in the U.S., but the ones we have here are pretty expensive. If Nissan could somehow keep the Leaf Nismo affordable (at least by new car standards), a relatively inexpensive, truly fun-to-drive EV has a lot of potential. Over in Japan, the Leaf with the motor we get here starts at 5,188,700 yen, while you're looking at 6,952,000 yen for the Nismo version and 7,227,000 for the Recaro version. With destination, the U.S. Leaf starts at $31,535, and if I did my math correctly, a proportional price bump would bring the Leaf Nismo to $42,251. 

That's not quite the bargain the base Leaf offers, but we also don't have to worry about pricing unless Nissan announces plans to sell the Leaf Nismo outside of Japan. Since that hasn't happened yet, it's just nice to see an automaker attempt to inject some actual sporty driving dynamics into a fairly affordable, economical EV.