2020 Nissan Leaf

small car / 4-door hatchback

Fully electric

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Side: updated test
Head restraints & seats

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle
Standard system
Not tested

Seat belts & child restraints

LATCH ease of use

Other available safety features

  • Standard blind spot detection
  • Standard lane departure warning & prevention

Key

  • G
    Good
  • A
    Acceptable
  • M
    Marginal
  • P
    Poor
  • Superior
  • Advanced
  • Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2020-25 models

Tested vehicle: 2020 Nissan Leaf SV 4-door

The Nissan Leaf was redesigned for the 2018 model year. The car is a plug-in battery-electric vehicle with no gasoline or diesel engine to help power the car. Beginning with 2020 models, knee airbags for the driver and front passenger were added as well as newly designed driver and passenger side curtain and passenger frontal airbags. Modifications to the front driver and rear passenger safety belts were implemented and rear seat-mounted torso airbags were added. Additional reinforcements were also made to the front and side structure to improve occupant protection.

Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Nissan. Ratings apply to both the Leaf (tested) and the structurally similar Leaf Plus, which was introduced in the 2019 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTF2004
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 5
Left (cm) 9
Center (cm) 6
Right (cm) 4
Brake pedal (cm) 9
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 1
Right (cm) 0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 4
Rearward (cm) -1
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF2004
Head
HIC-15 156
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.0
Extension bending moment (Nm) 24
Maximum Nij 0.23
Chest maximum compression (mm) 24
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 1.1
Femur force - right (kN) 1.3
Knee displacement - left (mm) 2
Knee displacement - right (mm) 1
Maximum tibia index - left 0.32
Maximum tibia index - right 0.34
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.1
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 1.9
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 55
Right 63

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2020-25 models

Tested vehicle: 2020 Nissan Leaf SV 4-door

The Nissan Leaf was redesigned for the 2018 model year. The car is a plug-in battery-electric vehicle with no gasoline or diesel engine to help power the car. Beginning with 2020 models, knee airbags for the driver and front passenger were added as well as newly designed driver and passenger side curtain and passenger frontal airbags. Modifications to the front driver and rear passenger safety belts were implemented and rear seat-mounted torso airbags were added. Additional reinforcements were also made to the front and side structure to improve occupant protection.

Side ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Nissan. Ratings apply to both the Leaf (tested) and the structurally similar Leaf Plus, which was introduced in the 2019 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTS2003
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -14.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTS2003
Head HIC-15 238
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.7
Compression (kN) 0.1
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 29
Lateral force (kN) 1.5
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 27
Average deflection (mm) 26
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.46
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.37
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.2
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.5
Combined force (kN) 3.5
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.1
L-M moment (Nm) 135
A-P moment (Nm) 42

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTS2003
Head HIC-15 84
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.2
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 14
Lateral force (kN) 0.8
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 21
Average deflection (mm) 15
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.57
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.17
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.4
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.3
Combined force (kN) 2.4
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.5
L-M moment (Nm) 98
A-P moment (Nm) -24

About the original side crash test

Side: updated test

Rating applies to 2020-25 models

Tested vehicle: 2022 Nissan Leaf SV 4-door

The Nissan Leaf was redesigned for the 2018 model year. The car is a plug-in battery-electric vehicle with no gasoline or diesel engine to help power the car. Beginning with 2020 models, knee airbags for the driver and front passenger were added as well as newly designed driver and passenger side curtain and passenger frontal airbags. Modifications to the front driver and rear passenger safety belts were implemented and rear seat-mounted torso airbags were added. Additional reinforcements were also made to the front and side structure to improve occupant protection.

Side ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test of a 2022 Leaf conducted by Nissan. Ratings apply to both the Leaf (tested) and the structurally similar Leaf Plus, which was introduced in the 2019 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis
Rear passenger head protection
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTS2214
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -13.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTS2214
Head
HIC-15 211
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.9
Compression (kN) 0.3
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 29
Lateral force (kN) 1.1
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 28
Average deflection (mm) 26
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.65
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.32
Pelvis
Combined force (kN) 4.9

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTS2214
Head
HIC-15 158
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.3
Compression (kN) 0.3
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 39
Lateral force (kN) 1.5
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 35
Average deflection (mm) 25
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.62
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.43
Pelvis
Combined force (kN) 4.2

About the side crash test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Manual cloth seat

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Manual cloth seat
Geometry
Backset (mm) 36
Distance below top of head (mm) 38
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 10.7
Head contact time (ms) 58
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 0
Max neck tension (N) 313

About the head restraint & seat test
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle

System details

  • Standard Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2020-23 models

  • This system meets the requirements for forward collision warning.
  • Autobrake not tested.

About the original front crash prevention test

Child seat anchors

Rating applies to 2016-25 models

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trimSV (Leaf); SV Plus (Leaf Plus)
Seat type cloth

This vehicle has 2 rear seating positions with complete child seat attachment (LATCH) hardware.

It has 1 additional seating position with a tether anchor only.

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trimSV (Leaf); SV Plus (Leaf Plus)
Seat type cloth
1 2 3
GGood
AAcceptable
MMarginal
PPoor
Seating positions that rely on borrowed lower anchors or have only a tether anchor available are not rated.
thether anchor symbol
Tether anchor
lower anchor symbol
Lower anchors
shared lower achors symbol
Lower anchor(s) can be borrowed from adjacent positions(s)
No hardware available

Details by seating position

1
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
difficult to maneuver around anchors
2
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
none available
3
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
difficult to maneuver around anchors
Technical measurements for this test

Seat position 21

3

Lower anchor A
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 4-6
Force (lbs) 29
Clearance angle (degrees) 50
Lower anchor B
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 4-6
Force (lbs) 28
Clearance angle (degrees) 55
Tether anchor
Location Middle seatback
Confusing hardware present Yes
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor		 Yes
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH		 Not measured

Seat position 22

2

Lower anchor A
No lower latch for this seat position
Lower anchor B
No lower latch for this seat position
Tether anchor
Location Middle seatback
Confusing hardware present Yes
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor		 Yes
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH		 Not measured

Seat position 23

1

Lower anchor A
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 4-6
Force (lbs) 27
Clearance angle (degrees) 56
Lower anchor B
Open access rated No
Depth (cm) 4-6
Force (lbs) 33
Clearance angle (degrees) 48
Tether anchor
Location Middle seatback
Confusing hardware present Yes
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor		 Yes
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH		 Not measured

About the child seat anchor evaluation