The 2016 Nissan Leaf comes with quite a few updates when compared with its predecessors. The most noteworthy of these updates is the presence of a 30 kilowatt-hour battery pack which can churn out a 107 mile range. This is quite a significant increase of the 84 mile range of the present 24kWh battery pack.
This model is still available in the base Leaf S. One thing that has been noticed in both the 2012 and 2016 variants is the better performance on some of the variants. Nissan has raised prices since 2015 but the highest range 2016 Nissan Leaf is actually cheaper than its 2012 counterpart around 4 years ago.
The Seattle Nissan Leaf owners Facebook group recently drew a comparison between these two cars. The Leaf SV is priced at $35,090 for the 107-mile range Leaf while the Leaf SL is priced at $37,640. The longer range Leaf SV model actually costs less $380 less than its 84-mile range counterpart last year and this is primarily because Nissan made DC quick-charging, a standard feature.
At the same time, the high end 2016 Nissan Leaf SL costs $1670 more than previous year’s model, however, both last and this year’s model have the presence of DC Quick-charging. At a price of $28,060, the base Leaf S model remains unchanged for 2016. Changes include the larger optional battery pack along with three new paint color schemes and improvements in the infotainment system.
In 2012, the Leaf SV was available at a price of $36,050 while the Leaf SL was available for $38,100. The Leaf S was not introduced until 2013. There was an increase in price by $2420 over the 2012 Leaf SV. The base model at the time was the Leaf SV but Nissan added the Leaf S as a more affordable entry-level offering, back in 2013.
Nissan added a standard winter package in 2012 along with other features like heated front and rear seats, batter-pack warming and also a heated steering wheel. As a result, the DC Fast-charging ability was made standard on the Leaf SL and it was earlier a $700 option. When you look back at the 2012 model of the Leaf, it seems Nissan is doing all right in 2016.
The 6.6-kW onboard charger was made available in 2013 and this is one of the other improvements besides the larger available battery pack. Meanwhile, the 2016 Nissan Leaf is nothing but a preview of what the 2017, redesigned model will be offering. The model will have range approaching 200 miles when it becomes available in 2017 or 2018.
In the meantime, the Nissan 2016 Leaf is back with three new trim-levels and a base price of $32,698 before delivery and freight charges along with the applicable rebates in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.
The base Leaf S comes with a 24kWh battery pack and provides a range of 133km. However, the SV and SL trim levels receives a 30kWh battery and the range is increased to a maximum of 172km on a complete charge. A quick charge port is included in every Leaf. The connectivity and audio systems have also been upgraded in the 2016 Nissan Leaf.
There is a 5inch color display with NissanConnect and MobileApps suite and the SV and SL boasts a 7 inch display which comes with navigation, multi-touch control and voice recognition. A marked improvement can be noticed in the on-screen graphics while the charging screen information is automatically updated every time the car ignition is turned on.