You Can Lease a 2022 Nissan Leaf for $89 a Month
Or you could buy one for less than $20,000 after tax credits.
Surprising though it may be to some of our readers, we like the Nissan Leaf a whole lot. It's simply a good car overall, even if it's not as whimsical as others in its price range. Our fondness for it is only likely to grow with the coming 2022 model year, which is both better and way cheaper to buy and lease.
Nissan revealed its changes to the 2022 Leaf earlier this week, which include throwing in a 240-volt portable charge cable and standardizing more gadgetry, notably CHAdeMO fast-charging and features formerly exclusive to upper trims. These include Intelligent Around View Monitor and ProPilot Assist, a tech bundle that offers adaptive cruise control, some steering assistance, and will come to encompass more features with time. Despite these added goodies, Nissan is cutting the whole Leaf range's price by thousands, opening the door for that outrageous $89-a-month lease offer.
This pricing will be available on '22 models only in certain areas around the country, with CarsDirect specifying states such as Maryland and New York, as well as big cities such as Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The offer requires $1,449 down and allows 10,000 miles annually for 24 months, for a total of 20,000 miles. $89 monthly is said to be the starting rate for the base trim, S, whose 40-kilowatt-hour battery can propel it 149 miles.
Buying a Leaf S outright would cost $28,350 before local or federal tax incentives, for which Nissan customers are still eligible for the full $7,500. Leaf Plus models with the larger, 62-kWh battery and more powerful motors now start at $33,375 and offer 226 miles of range on S Plus. Higher trims start at up to $38,375 for the SL Plus, though they only offer 215 miles of range, not to mention questionable value for money.
Nissan's suddenly aggressive pricing is likely related to a number of factors, from the increasingly competitive EV market to the imminent arrival of its electric Ariya crossover, a possible bestseller. Price cuts may also have something to do with the Leaf's CHAdeMO fast-charge port falling out of favor with America's largest multi-brand charging network, Electrify America, which will follow carmakers' footsteps in aligning with CCS plugs. Even so, this firesale has made it a tempting time to lease a Leaf, especially with the freedom to move on to whatever's the latest and greatest EV after 24 months.
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