Nissan Leaf Shiro is the new, cheapest electric Nissan

Nissan Leaf is one of the longest-serving EVs on the market, the first generation of the Leaf came out 13 years ago. The current model, in its 2nd generation, has been around since 2018 and Nissan decided that it’s about time to treat the Leaf to a bucket of new paint and some trinkets. And that’s literally what they did.

Nissan Leaf Shiro is a former Nissan Leaf N-Connecta with the ProPILOT Assist as standard. That package offers lane keeping, traffic jam assistance, and automatic parking brake. The seats are wrapped in synthetic leather with fabric inserts, and there is even an option for a Spare Wheel Pack - a fancy name for a steel spare wheel and tools for replacing it.

The new model is only available with the smaller 39 kWh battery pack - it offers a WLTP rating of 168 miles and an even lower EPA rating of 151 miles. The 110 kW (150 hp) electric motor powers the front wheels and actually makes a decent job of it - 0 to 100 km/h takes 7.9 seconds, which 10 years ago was a hot-hatch territory. The Leaf Shiro runs out of puff at 89 mph, and it supports a 50 kW DC charging - a 40-minute stop every 124 miles or so is not a good idea for a family car.

The truth is, the Nissan Leaf is getting old. It was a great EV 13 years ago, it was OK 5 years ago, and now it is still on sale because there’s not that much choice in this price bracket. Speaking of which - Leaf Shiro retails for $39,132, which is $2,700 less than Leaf N-Connecta with the same battery.

Since Shiro in Japanese means ‘white’ - Nissan Leaf Shiro can be had in any color - as long as it's white. Arctic White in fact, so there’s a bit of a sparkle to it, the optional two-tone finish swaps it for the Storm White finish with a Pearl Black roof.

Despite the Leaf getting long in the tooth, the car has sold over 646,000 units across the world since it was introduced. People keep buying it, Leaf keeps winning awards - both for new and used electric cars - and Nissan keeps feeding us the old tech wrapped up in shiny new options, while it tries to figure out its next move.

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