Nissan has pulled a Peugeot and lopped a massive chunk off the price of its 2024 Nissan LEAF electric hatch range, temporarily making it one of Australia’s most affordable EVs.
By temporarily we mean until the end of this month (May) and by massive we mean more than $15,000, given the LEAF is normally priced from $50,990 plus on-road costs but now starts at $39,990 drive-away, while the LEAF e+ usually costs $61,490 plus ORCs but can now be had for $49,990 drive-away.
Each version’s new promo pricing is roughly $11,000 less than their retail prices, with at least another $4000 saved by the inclusion of statutory on-road costs.
Nissan Australia hasn’t given a clear reason for the enormous discount, but we suspect it has something to do with slower sales of the LEAF amid a sea of new EV releases. LEAF sales are down 44 per cent in the first four months of this year.
The second-generation Nissan LEAF has been with us since 2017 and was treated to a facelift in 2022, but its original predecessor become one of the first mainstream electric cars available here in 2012, before pioneering EV technologies like vehicle-to-load (V2L) and, more recently, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging functionality.
Its new temporary pricing – which may be extended beyond May – puts the base LEAF on par with the MG MG4 Excite 51kWh hatch and the MG ZS EV Excite small SUV as the second-cheapest EV on the market, undercut by only the GWM Ora Standard Range ($35,990 drive-away).
carsales understands Peugeot has now run out of stock of its heavily discounted pre-facelift e-2008 small electric SUV, which at $39,990 drive-away temporarily made it Australia’s equal cheapest electric SUV alongside the MG ZS EV.
The entry-level Nissan LEAF pretty much matches its Chinese rivals for grunt but falls behind on range (270km) due to its smaller 39kWh battery pack.
However, the LEAF e+ addresses that with its bigger 59kWh battery offering 385km – albeit for an extra $10,000.