Japanese electric car has $16K lopped off its drive-away price: Nissan Leaf price slashed to match BYD Dolphin and MG 4 and drive sales ahead of EOFY

The electric car space is brutal at the moment with Nissan’s Leaf ZE1 electric hatch the latest model to have a significant price cut to drive sales. 

The Leaf, which was last updated in 2023, is on offer for as little as $39,990 drive-away with the longer range e+ model $49,990 drive-away, a state and territory-dependent discount of $15,300 and $16,300, respectively. 

Nissan’s impermanent end of financial year (EOFY) deal follows BYD slashing $8000 off demonstrator Atto 3s, Tesla lowering the price of popular Model Y and Model 3s, and the drastic $25,000 drop Peugeot applied to its e-2008 small SUV.

In April, Nissan sold 11 Leafs for a yearly total of just 89 – half of what the car had achieved in the same time last year. They are normally priced at $50,990 and $61,490, both before on-road costs.

The second generation of Nissan’s pioneering electric car is facing stiff competition from new Chinese rivals such as the BYD Dolphin (from $42,190 drive-away) and MG4 ($39,990 drive-away). With even more Chinese brands on the way, it’s task will only get tougher. 

Tech under the Leaf is now relatively old compared to rivals, with an air-cooled battery pack it’s able to eke 285km driving range (WLTP) from a 39kWh battery, while the larger pack in the e+ ups the figure to 398km. 

One of the first EVs. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

A CHAdeMO fast-charge port limits the Leaf e+’s 10-80 per cent fast-charge time to 59 minutes – the BYD Dolphin manages this interval in 40 minutes. 

CarsGuide understands Nissan’s new Ariya is still on hold for Australia with no arrival date confirmed.