Verdict
C
EV · Japan · 2011-present
Nissan Leaf
First mass-market EV. Two US generations. Pricing crashed. CHAdeMO charging.
Years
2011-present
Generations
1
Segment
EV
Sold here since 2011 — the original mass-market EV. Two generations: ZE0/AZE0 (2011-2017, 24 or 30 kWh battery) and ZE1 (2018-present, 40 or 62 kWh battery). CHAdeMO DC charging port (now obsolete in the US). The Leaf has been left behind by every newer EV but pricing on used examples has crashed to fire-sale levels.
Generations
Click any generation for the deep dive
2018-present
ZE1 (Gen 2)
Cheap used EV but CHAdeMO charging is dead in US.
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Known issues by generation
Common faults reported on each generation — useful when shopping the used market.
2018-present · ZE1 (Gen 2)
- Battery degradation (no liquid cooling means fast capacity loss)
- CHAdeMO port reliability
- Some early infotainment freezes
Rivals
Tesla Model 3 · Chevrolet Bolt EV · Hyundai Kona Electric