The $29,990 Nissan Leaf Just Put Serious Pressure On The New Chevy Bolt

By Gary Gastelu |

Aug 20, 2025

Nissan just turned over a new Leaf and it’s surprisingly cheap. The all-new third-generation Leaf has a starting price $29,990, or $31,485 with shipping … from Japan.

Nissan moved production out of Tennessee, where the Leaf had been built since 2011, since U.S. demand for the model wasn’t as strong as it is in Asia and Europe. It will be using the extra factory capacity to build more Rogue SUVs.

The price will should make the Nissan Leaf the most affordable EV in the U.S. when deliveries begin this fall, and it’s no bargain basement model.

The Leaf S+ has more room than the last generation Leaf, a healthy 214 hp and a range of 303 miles per charge. It takes about 35 minutes at a DC fast charging station to fill the battery from 10% to 80% and it comes from the factory with the Tesla-style NACS input, so it can use Tesla’s newest Superchargers.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE AMERICAN CARS AND RACING NEWSLETTER FOR MORE STORIES LIKE THIS

For comparison, the original Leaf had a 73-mile range, 107 hp and a $32,780 MSRP, but you had to pay $700 extra for a fast charge port to get 30-minute charges. That price is equivalent to around $48,000 today. Nissan will add an even cheaper, shorter-range Leaf S model to the lineup at a later date.

Nissan decided to move Leaf production to Japan long before President Trump was elected last year and imposed new tariffs on imported vehicles, which look like they might settle at 15% for vehicles made in Japan when the trade deal is finalized. That’s a significant hit even on a vehicle in this price range and suggests that Nissan has aggressively priced the Leaf with a tight profit margin.

The next-cheapest EV with more than 300 miles of range on sale today is the $34,995 Chevrolet Equinox EV, which is a size larger and rated at 319 miles per charge. It’s made in Mexico, however, and is currently getting slammed with tariffs as a new U.S.-Mexico trade deal is hammered out.

But its most direct competition is on the way in the form of the 2027 Chevrolet Bolt, which will be assembled in Kansas starting early next year, which means higher production costs than the Equinox EV, but no tariff. Well, except for the battery pack, which will be imported from China for the first two years until U.S. manufacturing for a replacement begins.

The new Bolt uses the last generation Bolt EUV’s body and is slightly smaller than the Leaf. The battery pack is also switching to the low cost LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) cells, which don’t have a lower energy density than the NCM (Nickel Cobalt Manganese) cells that were previously used and were good for a 247 mile-range. Chevrolet hasn’t said how big the battery is or what the range for the new Bolt will be, but it could improve on the previous model’s with other powertrain efficiencies.

Chevrolet also hasn’t said what it will cost, but it has previously suggested it was aiming for the price to be not much more than the 2023 Bolt EUV’s $28,795. But that was before the new tariffs, which apply to China-made parts, went into effect.

What’s clear is that without the soon-to-be discontinued $7,500 federal tax credit for purchases of electric vehicles made in North America to fall back on, Chevrolet is going to need to make the Bolt a strong value proposition to compete with Leaf, if it provides more range and space for $29,990.