Compare the2022 Nissan LeafVS 2022 Kia Niro EV

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Leaf have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Kia Niro EV doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.

The Nissan Leaf has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Niro EV doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Leaf has standard Rear Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Niro EV doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Leaf (except S) offers an optional Around View® Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Niro EV only offers a rear monitor and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the front or sides.

Both the Leaf and the Niro EV have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available daytime running lights and driver alert monitors.

The Leaf’s 5 year corrosion warranty has no mileage limitations, but the corrosion warranty on the Niro EV runs out after 100,000 miles.

There are over 40 percent more Nissan dealers than there are Kia dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the Leaf’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Nissan vehicles are better in initial quality than Kia vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Nissan fifth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 1 more problems per 100 vehicles, Kia is ranked 6th.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Nissan vehicles are more reliable than Kia vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Nissan 2 places higher in reliability than Kia.

The Leaf PLUS’ standard electric motor produces 13 more horsepower (214 vs. 201) than the Niro EV’s electric motor.

The Leaf’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Niro EV are solid, not vented.

The Leaf stops shorter than the Niro EV:

The Leaf SV/SL’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 50 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Niro EV’s 55 series tires.

The Leaf has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Niro EV doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Leaf has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Niro EV doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

The Nissan Leaf may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs up to about 350 pounds less than the Kia Niro EV.

The Leaf has 1.1 inches more front headroom, .4 inches more front legroom and 1.7 inches more rear hip room than the Niro EV.

The Leaf has a much larger cargo volume than the Niro EV with its rear seat up (23.6 vs. 18.5 cubic feet).

The Leaf’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Niro EV’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Nissan Leaf and the Kia Niro EV, based on reliability, safety and performance.