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Wallbox Quasar bi-directional EV charger with Nissan Leaf

Is the 2020 Nissan Leaf Plus the Electric Car You’ve Overlooked?

Once upon a time, buying a hybrid car was a thing of the future. In 2020, hybrids are a dime a dozen, and they have slowly begun to take over the market, and it seems like every prominent car manufacturer is entering the game. With so many options, it’s easy to focus on the more …

Once upon a time, buying a hybrid car was a thing of the future. In 2020, hybrids are a dime a dozen, and they have slowly begun to take over the market, and it seems like every prominent car manufacturer is entering the game. With so many options, it’s easy to focus on the more popular hybrids and electric cars, and overlook ones that are well priced. Buying an electric vehicle is now an affordable option for the general consumer market, but cars like the Nissan Leaf Plus are overlooked but excellent choices.

The Nissan Leaf Plus

The Nissan Leaf itself is a decent car. Appearance-wise it doesn’t differ much from the other sedans in the manufacturer’s lineup, and it lacks the modern or futuristic touches of some other electric cars. Just like other Nissan sedans, that car is very standard in just about every way possible. The interior is clad in plastic and lacks a lot of the luxury features we see in more expensive electric cars. This could work to the Leaf’s benefit, though.

Nissan Leaf charging on stage
Nissan Leaf | Bryan Mitchell/Getty Images

The 2020 Nissan Leaf Plus does have the modern style updates to the headlights, front fascia, and side profile that is desperately needed. The interior does see some much-needed updates as well, but it offers us comfort and familiarity with previous Nissan generations.

The long-range Plus

It seems to be a standard agreement that the long-range versions of most electric or hybrid cars are better. After all, you are getting more electric range, which can’t be a bad thing. The Nissan Leaf is no exception, with the long-range model, the Nissan Leaf Plus, being the better of the two options. While the standard model is more affordable, it lacks the long-range of the Plus, which increases the expected range from 149 miles to as much as 215 miles.

Nissan Leaf compact five-door hatchback battery electric vehicle on display at Brussels Expo
The Nissan Leaf | Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images

You could debate that for the price of the Nissan Leaf Plus, you could buy a hybrid or electric car in a similar cost range and get a lot more luxury and better driving quality. While that might be true, the Leaf has all of the Nissan’s reliability we know and love. Electric cars are still an unfamiliar purchasing territory for many people, and most generations of drivers who grew up with standard gasoline-powered engines might feel uncomfortable with an electric car.

That’s part of what makes the Nissan Leaf Plus such a great option. The familiarity of the Nissan brand, which has already established itself as reliable and affordable, gives people a little peace of mind. The Nissan Leaf Plus is a good option for an electric car, and while it is debatably overpriced for what it has to offer, you can’t buy peace of mind.

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