Compare the2024 Nissan LeafVS 2023 Hyundai Nexo

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 Hyundai Nexo doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Leaf are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Nexo doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

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 Nexo doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Leaf has standard Active Head Restraints, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Active Head Restraints system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Nexo doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

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 for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Nexo doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.

Both the Leaf and the Nexo have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact 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, around view monitors and driver alert monitors.

There are over 30 percent more Nissan dealers than there are Hyundai dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the Leaf’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Nissan vehicles are better in initial quality than Hyundai vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Nissan above average in initial quality. With 8 more problems per 100 vehicles, Hyundai is rated lower.

The Leaf PLUS’ standard electric motor produces 53 more horsepower (214 vs. 161) than the Nexo’s electric motor.

On the EPA test cycle the Leaf gets better mileage than the Nexo:

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 Nexo are solid, not vented.

The Leaf S’ standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Nexo’s standard 60 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 Nexo doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

For better maneuverability, the Leaf S’ turning circle is 1.9 feet tighter than the Nexo’s (34.8 feet vs. 36.7 feet). The Leaf SV PLUS’ turning circle is .6 feet tighter than the Nexo’s (36.1 feet vs. 36.7 feet).

The Nissan Leaf may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 200 to 500 pounds less than the Hyundai Nexo.

The Leaf is 7.5 inches shorter than the Nexo, making the Leaf easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The design of the Nissan Leaf amounts to more than styling. The Leaf has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .28 Cd. That is significantly lower than the Nexo (.32) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Leaf get better fuel mileage.

The Leaf has 1.8 inches more front headroom and .6 inches more front legroom than the Nexo.

A low lift-over trunk design makes loading and unloading the Leaf easier. The Leaf’s trunk lift-over height is 28.6 inches, while the Nexo’s liftover is 29.7 inches.

A maintenance reminder system is standard on the Leaf to save the owner time and money by calculating maintenance intervals for tire rotation, based on odometer mileage. This takes the guesswork out of keeping your vehicle in top condition and helps it last longer. Hyundai doesn’t offer a maintenance reminder on the Nexo.

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 Nexo’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Consumer Reports® chose the Nissan Leaf as its “Top Pick,” the highest scoring vehicle in its category, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Nissan Leaf outsold the Hyundai Nexo by over 29 to one during 2022.