The 2027 Chevrolet Bolt is back after a two-year hiatus, with a familiarly affordable price tag and better specs than ever. What’s great for EV buyers—maybe not as much for General Motors—is that Nissan had largely the same idea. The 2026 Leaf is back with a vengeance for the trusty EV’s third generation.
The two models are America’s cheapest new EVs, starting price at right around $30,000. That’s at least $3,000 less than the next most affordable EV, the Chevrolet Equinox EV.
So we thought we’d take a look at the spec sheets of the new Chevy Bolt and Nissan Leaf, to help potential buyers make up their minds before the models hit the showroom floor.
Pricing & Availability
The 2027 Bolt will launch at $29,990, fees included, in early 2026. A base LT model will hit dealerships a few months later, at $28,995.
The 2026 Leaf is a close match. The Leaf S+, which is the current base trim until details of the S are announced, starts at $31,485. The Leaf is available now at dealers across the country.
The Leaf, however, will gain an even more affordable version, the S, which will have a smaller battery and a shorter driving range. When it debuts, it will likely undercut the base Bolt. But until that happens, GM’s new EV is currently America’s cheapest battery-powered car.
Overall Design
There’s a table at the end of this article that summarizes everything, but before we get to that, let’s talk about features and how the two cars came to be. Right off the bat, it’s clear that Nissan put a lot more effort into redesigning the third-generation Leaf. It’s a car built from scratch on a completely new platform, and it all leads to more driving range, more power, faster charging and a body that’s a little more attractive.
As for the new Bolt, you’d be hard-pressed to tell it apart from the old Bolt EUV that was discontinued at the end of 2023. Most of the body panels are the same as before, but to its credit, General Motors made substantial improvements under the skin. There’s a new battery that enables much faster charging than before, a more powerful electric motor and a revised interior.
Charging & Energy
Both EVs come from the factory with a Tesla-style North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging port, America’s new plug standard. This enables them to use Tesla Superchargers without an adapter, but it does mean that owners will need an adapter to charge at stations that don’t have NACS cables.
The Leaf stands out with a rather odd charging feature, though, as it comes with both a NACS port and a separate J1772 port that can only be used for Level 1 and Level 2 charging.
Photo by: Chevrolet
The Bolt has vehicle-to-home (V2H) capability, which means it can power an entire house if the necessary hardware is installed. The Leaf has vehicle-to-load (V2L), which means it can power tools and appliances through an adapter that plugs into the AC port.
The Leaf and Bolt both advertise a peak DC fast-charging rate of 150 kilowatts. That is much more competitive than their previous generations, but doesn’t come close to today’s quickest-charging cars.
The Leaf can take in 7.2 kilowatts from an AC charger, while the Bolt’s onboard AC charger accepts up to 11.5 kW. On the charging front, the Bolt has the upper hand, if only slightly.
Range & Battery Size
Range is a different story, though. The Leaf S+ can deliver 303 miles on a full charge thanks to a 75-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery. According to Nissan, going from 10% to 80% state of charge takes 35 minutes.
Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs
The 2027 Chevrolet Bolt comes with a smaller 65 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery that enables a GM-estimated driving range of 255 miles. The automaker claims that a 10-to-80% top-up can happen in 26 minutes from a DC fast charger.
The 2027 Bolt also comes with a heat pump as standard, while the 2026 Leaf gets it on the more expensive SV+ and Platinum+ trims.
Photo by: Chevrolet
Power & Torque
In terms of power, both models are pretty much on par with each other. And let’s be honest, nobody’s buying either of these commuter cars to win any races.
Both are front-wheel drive EVs. The Bolt’s front-mounted motor makes 210 horsepower, while the Leaf’s has 214 hp.
However, the Bolt is lacking quite a bit of torque, with just 169 pound-feet, compared to the Leaf’s 261 lb-ft. Neither GM nor Nissan has published zero-to-60 miles per hour times for their entry-level EVs, but we know that the Bolt is quite a bit lighter than the Leaf, tipping the scales at 3,776 pounds, whereas Nissan’s electric crossover weighs 4,206 pounds in its most affordable configuration.
Interior, Cargo Space & Infotainment
Both cars have similar exterior and interior dimensions. The Bolt offers a little more room for passengers, while the Leaf has more cargo space.
2026 Nissan Leaf, here with the bigger 14.3-inch screens. The S+ version comes with smaller, 12.3-inch displays
Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs
The new Chevy Bolt has an 11-inch digital instrument display and an 11.3-inch infotainment screen with Google Built-in. Drivers get access to apps like Google Maps and Spotify, but there is no Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Meanwhile, the Nissan Leaf S+ gets a pair of 12.3-inch displays–one for the instrument cluster and one for the infotainment, which offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. On the upper trim levels, the screen size increases to 14.3 inches and a Google-based system is included. For some buyers, CarPlay may be reason enough to go for the Leaf; none of GM’s new EVs have the phone-mirroring feature.
Safety Tech
On the safety front, the 2026 Leaf comes standard with Nissan’s Safety Shield 360 Suite. It includes Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Lane Departure Prevention, Blind Spot Intervention and Forward Collision Warning. The Leaf also has a 360-degree camera system and ProPILOT Assist, which combines Intelligent Cruise Control with steering assistance to keep the car centered in the lane and at a safe distance from the car in front.
The 2027 Bolt comes out of the box with Adaptive Cruise Control, Front Pedestrian Braking, Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning, Side Bicyclist Alert, Intersection Automatic Emergency Braking, Blind Zone Steering Assist and IntelliBeam auto high beams.
Bottom Line: Two Solid Lower-Cost Options
America’s EV market has been in dire need of cheaper options for a long time—and that’s even more true now that the EV tax credit has gone away.
We’ll have to wait until we can get behind the wheel of the Bolt to offer a truly informed comparison. (Our Deputy Editor Mack Hogan has driven the Leaf, and he dug it for what it is.) But both of these vehicles are much-needed additions to the EV space.
Both offer solid specs for a lower price than most EVs, and both are better deals than their predecessors. There are, of course, some differences. The Leaf has the upper hand in range and Apple CarPlay, which could make all the difference to some folks.
The Bolt, for now, costs a few grand less and has more room for passengers. At the end of the day, the best thing you can do is actually drive both vehicles. The choice will probably come down to personal preference.
2027 Chevrolet Bolt vs. 2026 Nissan Leaf comparison
| 2027 Chevrolet Bolt | 2026 Nissan Leaf | |
| Starting price (including freight charges) | $28,995 | $31,485 |
| Driving range | 255 miles (GM-estimated) | 259 to 303 miles (EPA-estimated) |
| Battery capacity | 65 kWh | 75 kWh |
| Maximum charging power (DC) | 150 kW | 150 kW |
| Maximum charging power (AC) | 11.5 kW | 7.2 kW |
| 10-to-80% fast charging | 26 minutes | 35 minutes |
| Heat pump | Yes | Yes, but not on the entry-level version |
| Power | 210 hp | 214 hp |
| Torque | 169 lb-ft | 261 lb-ft |
| Length | 169.6 in | 173.4 in |
| Width | 69.7 in | 71.3 in |
| Height | 63.9 in | 61.3 in |
| Wheelbase | 105.3 in | 105.9 in |
| Weight | 3,766 lbs | 4,206 to 4,393 lbs |
| Cargo capacity with seats up | 16.2 cu ft | 20 cu ft |
| Cargo capacity with rear seats folded | 56.3 cu ft | 55.5 cu ft |
| Front headroom | 39.1 to 40 in | 39.9 in |
| Front legroom | 44.3 in | 42.4 in |
| Rear headroom | 37.8 in | 36.6 to 37.2 in |
| Rear legroom | 39.1 in | 31.8 in |
These values don’t include the cheapest versions of the Chevrolet Bolt and Nissan Leaf, which cannot be purchased yet. When they go on sale, we’ll update this article to reflect the changes.
