With the average American?s daily driving distance at less than 30 miles, it would seem that 84 miles of official driving range offered by the base Nissan Leaf S would suffice. Even the average 58 miles of real-world range we found in an extended test of the 24-kWh model should do the job for a second car devoted to short commutes. But electric-car shoppers want more miles and fast, easy ways to charge the vehicle for those days when they are traveling farther.
Nissan has now bowed to market reality and nixed the old 24-kWh battery pack completely, substituting the formerly optional 30-kWh pack into the base model and renaming it the S30. And to address the fast-charging expectation, Nissan has now made DC fast charging standard across the lineup. ?The Leaf has a very vocal and active consumer base, and we were able to make the change to the standard battery size in response to consumer demand,? explained spokesperson Paige Presley.

These changes aren?t waiting for the new model year; they?ve been added to the 2016 Leaf on a midyear basis, with new 30-kWh Leaf S30 models arriving at dealerships soon. The upgrades do come at a price, however; Nissan raised the sticker price, so that the base S30 is $33,300 before state and local incentives and the $7500 federal tax credit. That represents a $3440 premium over the 24-kWh Leaf S. Another way to see it is that the S now offers the 30-kWh battery and fast charger for $1750 less than the midrange Leaf SV. Buyers in Europe and...