Compare the2023 Kia Niro EVVS 2023 Nissan Leaf

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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Both the Niro EV and Leaf have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Niro EV offers optional power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Leaf’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

Both the Niro EV and the Leaf have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, 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 and available front parking sensors.

Warranty

The Niro EV comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Leaf’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Kia’s powertrain warranty covers the Niro EV 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Nissan covers the Leaf. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Leaf ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

Reliability

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are better in initial quality than Nissan vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia fourth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 11 more problems per 100 vehicles, Nissan is ranked 10th.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Nissan vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia first in reliability, above the industry average. With 60 more problems per 100 vehicles, Nissan is ranked 20th.

Engine

The Niro EV’s electric motor produces 54 more horsepower (201 vs. 147) and 55 lbs.-ft. more torque (291 vs. 236) than the Leaf’s standard electric motor. The Niro EV’s electric motor produces 41 lbs.-ft. more torque (291 vs. 250) than the Leaf PLUS’ standard electric motor.

Fuel Economy and Range

The Niro EV can travel longer on a full charge than the Leaf on a full charge:

		Miles
Niro EV
	Electric Motor	253 miles
Leaf
	SV PLUS Electric Motor	212 miles
	Electric Motor	149 miles

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Niro EV has larger tires than the Leaf (215/55R17 vs. 205/55R16).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Niro EV has standard 17-inch wheels. Smaller 16-inch wheels are standard on the Leaf S.

Suspension and Handling

For superior ride and handling, the Kia Niro EV has fully independent front and rear suspensions. An independent suspension allows the wheels to follow the road at the best angle for gripping the pavement, without compromising ride comfort. The Nissan Leaf has a rear torsion beam axle, with a semi-independent rear suspension.

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Niro EV is 1.4 inches wider in the front and 1.2 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Leaf.

Chassis

The front grille of the Niro EV uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Leaf doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

Passenger Space

The Niro EV has 7.3 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Leaf (99.7 vs. 92.4).

The Niro EV has 1.6 inches more front hip room, 2 inches more front shoulder room, .8 inches more rear headroom, 3.4 inches more rear legroom, 2.7 inches more rear hip room and 2.9 inches more rear shoulder room than the Leaf.

Cargo Capacity

To make loading and unloading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Niro EV’s power liftgate can be opened just by waiting momentarily behind the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Niro EV’s power liftgate can also be opened or closed by pressing a button. The Leaf doesn’t offer a power or hands-free opening liftgate.

Servicing Ease

The Niro EV uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Leaf uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

Ergonomics

When two different drivers share the Niro EV Wave, the memory seats and mirrors make it convenient for both. Each setting activates different, customized memories for the driver’s seat position and outside mirror angle. The Leaf doesn’t offer a memory system.

The Niro EV Wave’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Leaf doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The Niro EV offers an optional heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Leaf doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Niro EV’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Leaf’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The power windows standard on both the Niro EV and the Leaf have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Niro EV is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Leaf prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Niro EV Wave’s front power windows open fully with one touch of the switches, and the driver’s window also automatically closes, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Leaf’s passenger windows don’t open or close automatically.

On a hot day the Niro EV’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Leaf can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Niro EV’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Leaf’s intermittent wipers change speed with vehicle speed, but can’t turn on and off or change speed based on changing rainfall.

In addition to a parabolic reflector, optical-grade lenses in the Niro EV’s projector headlights precisely focus the beam, providing more even illumination of the road for better visibility and a sharp cut-off that prevents blinding oncoming drivers. The sharp cutoff allows the use of a stronger light. The Leaf S/SV’s standard uses a simple reflector to direct its standard headlights.

The Niro EV’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Nissan only offers heated mirrors on the Leaf SV PLUS.

When the Niro EV Wave is put in reverse, both rearview mirrors tilt from their original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirrors into their original positions. The Leaf’s mirrors don’t automatically adjust for backing.

The Niro EV has standard heated front seats. Heated front seats are only available on the Leaf SV PLUS. The Niro EV also offers optional heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Leaf.

Standard air-conditioned seats in the Niro EV Wave keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Leaf doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

The Niro EV has a standard center folding armrest for the rear passengers. A center armrest helps make rear passengers more comfortable and it can provide a boundary between children. The Leaf doesn’t offer a rear seat center armrest.

The Niro EV’s standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. The Leaf doesn’t offer dual zone air conditioning.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Kia Niro EV has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The Leaf doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

The Niro EV offers an optional 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Leaf doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

The Niro EV Wave’s Smart Park Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Park Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The Leaf doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Recommendations

The Kia Niro outsold the Nissan Leaf by 58% during the 2021 model year.