Nissan LEAF EV Will get A Large Thumbs-Up From NACTOY

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The spectacle of a grown man quickly dropping cognitive perform is a tragic factor, significantly when it’s going down in actual time, one frantic, all-caps social media put up after one other, amidst the rising temperature of probably the most witless, malicious US overseas coverage scandal to unfold in latest reminiscence.* There, received that out of my system, now let’s flip to the newest information about EVs, that includes one more award for the all new 2026 Nissan LEAF.

*This scandal and these social media posts. When you have any ideas so as to add, drop a be aware within the remark thread.

EVs Simply Maintain Getting Higher, Tax Credit Or Not

The information about EVs within the US has been blended this 12 months, to say the least. The zero emission motion suffered a crushing blow over the summer season when US President Donald Trump signed a brand new federal tax invoice into legislation. The brand new legislation prematurely killed a $7,500 tax credit score for brand spanking new EVs (and $4,000 for used), with the expiration date set for this previous September 30.

As predicted, gross sales surged forward of the September deadline solely to crash in October. Nevertheless, the seeds of restoration have already been planted. Although some automakers have in the reduction of their near-term EV manufacturing plans, GM and Ford are among the many automakers adopting new LFP (lithium iron phosphate) battery know-how as a part of a renewed deal with lowering prices within the years to return. Each firms are additionally excited concerning the affordability potential of latest LMR (lithium manganese wealthy) batteries, too.

Only one 12 months in the past, Nissan additionally indicated a robust curiosity in LFP batteries. Nevertheless, in Might of this 12 months, the corporate scuttled plans for a brand new LFP battery manufacturing facility in Japan, including to issues that the automaker is teetering on the brink.

Nissan Rises From The LFP Ashes

Teetering or not, earlier this week, Nissan earned props for itself, and for your complete car electrification motion, when the corporate introduced that its 2026 LEAF electrical SUV made the lower for North American Utility Car of the Yr, within the North American Automobile, Truck and Utility Car of the Yr award program.

The final word NACTOY winners received’t be introduced till mid-January on the Detroit Auto Present, however within the meantime, Nissan is taking full benefit of the publicity.

“The North American Automobile, Truck and Utility Car of the Yr™ awards are judged by an impartial panel of fifty automotive journalists from the U.S. and Canada. Analysis standards embody innovation, design, security, driver satisfaction and total worth,” Nissan noticed in a press assertion.

Nissan additionally enthused at size concerning the 2026 Sentra, an ICE car that earned a Prime 3 Finalist slot within the Automobile of the Yr class. Nevertheless, the true achievement is getting an EV into one of many Prime 3 slots, in a contest that doesn’t distinguish between battery energy and inner combustion engines.

“The third-generation LEAF redefines what worth means for a brand new mannequin within the electrical car section,” Nissan emphasised, noting that the start line of $29,990 for the S+ grade is “the bottom beginning MSRP for any new EV at present on sale within the US.”

Nissan additionally took the chance to tout the LEAF’s EPA-estimated vary of 303 for mixed highway-urban driving and its DC quick charging velocity of 35 minutes to go from 10% to 80%.

Nissan Is Nonetheless Alive & Kicking

Though issues regarded gloomy for Nissan total on the finish of final 12 months, this 12 months the corporate’s EV gross sales within the US began off on the correct foot. In January, CleanTechnica famous a big gross sales spurt for each the LEAF and the ARIYA. The launch of the smooth, trendy 2026 LEAF in June promised extra to return.

If the awards cycle is any indicator, Nissan has a winner on its palms. Previous to incomes its Prime 3 NACTOY slot, the 2026 LEAF additionally pulled a trifecta within the new “Buzz Awards” hosted by a number of publications beneath the umbrella of Valnet Auto Group.

The hat trick adopted recognition from Wards Auto in September, when the 2026 LEAF garnered a slot within the agency’s “10 Finest Engines & Propulsion Methods” award program.

“The superior 3-in-1 next-generation electrical powertrain integrates the motor, inverter and reducer right into a single compact unit. This design reduces weight and dimension, improves vitality effectivity and enhances driving dynamics,” Nissan explains.

CleanTechnica additionally weighed in with some first-hand observations from a sneak peek hosted by Nissan in September. “Driving the brand new Nissan LEAF, we discovered it to be extraordinarily succesful and nicely mannered on all the pieces from metropolis streets, to excessive speeds on freeways, to aggressive sprints by way of backcountry corkscrews,” reported CleanTechnica’s Kyle Discipline (see heaps extra particulars, with images, concerning the LEAF drive right here).

The 800-Pound EV Maker In The Room

In fact, no story concerning the US electrical car market is full and not using a point out of Tesla. In contrast to regular automakers, whose CEOs are acquainted names nearly solely inside automotive circles, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has inserted himself into each nook of the worldwide dialog, venturing far past nuts and bolts into politics, gender id, and gaming, amongst different subjects, at all times rising on the aspect of white supremacy and fascism if not outright Nazism.

Proper-wing extremism has been a function, not a bug, of Musk’s public persona over latest years, although with little or no affect on gross sales of Tesla EVs till final 12 months, when his impact on the corporate’s model popularity lastly grew to become unimaginable to disregard.

Final 12 months’s gross sales dropoff gathered velocity throughout the run-up to Election Day 2024, when Musk devoted a reported $277 million to assist push US President Donald Trump into workplace. The bleeding has continued into this 12 months, highlighted by Musk’s new position as Deconstructor-in-Chief of the US authorities as head of Trump’s “DOGE” workplace.

With all this in thoughts, it’s little surprise that CarBuzz has tapped Tesla because the “most prevented EV model on the earth.” Citing a latest survey by the World EV Alliance, CarBuzz journalist Lou Cataldo famous that in years previous, when ICE autos dominated the roost, model loyalty was a big alternative issue. Within the new world of EVs, although, new patterns of automotive purchaser alternative are rising.

“One specific development has emerged: prospecting consumers avoiding sure manufacturers for political causes. On this a part of the survey, Tesla has emerged as probably the most continuously talked about model, with 41% of respondents saying they’d keep away from the model on account of politics,” Cataldo wrote.

“It’s not laborious to make a connection to Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, who has turn out to be a extremely controversial determine in recent times,” Cataldo added.

Ya don’t say. By the use of comparability, if you happen to can title the CEO of Nissan off the highest of your head, run proper out and purchase your self a cigar (that might be Ivan Espinosa, appointed to the place in March). Bonus factors if you happen to can title the chairperson of the corporate’s Americas division (Chritian Meunier, appointed in March).

Picture (cropped): Nissan is banking on the all new 2026 Nissan LEAF to pump up its EV gross sales within the US, using a wave of publicity from the automotive’s inclusion as a Prime 3 Finalist within the North American Utility Car of the Yr award program (credit score: Kyle Discipline, CleanTechnica).