2025 Nissan Leaf Safety Rating

Small cars Β· Historical model-year record Β· IIHS data updated 2026-09-04

Provisional record

This is the 2025 record, kept for reference. The current listing is the 2026 Nissan Leaf at 85.6/100. The 2025 results below are the exact ratings IIHS published for this model year.

β€”
Safety score / 100
Awaiting 8 results
No award
IIHS award
No current award
β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…
NHTSA overall
Reference only, not scored
$29,990
Starting MSRP
Approximate base trim
54
Class driver death rate
per million vehicle-years; all vehicles 38

IIHS crash-test results

Side: Updated Test Acceptable
Latch Ease Of Use Marginal
Detailed results by test (13 entries)

IIHS publishes these under the test they belong to, so the same label can appear more than once. Rear restraints and kinematics, rear head protection, structure and safety cage, and front restraints are the four that count toward the score (25%).

Side: updated test

Overall evaluation Acceptable
Structure and safety cage Marginal
Driver injury measures
Head/neck Good
Torso Good
Pelvis Acceptable
Driver head protection Good
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck Good
Torso Good
Pelvis Acceptable
Rear passenger head protection Good

Child seat anchors

Overall evaluation Marginal
View the IIHS report

Opens on iihs.org in a new tab

How the score is built

Primary IIHS tests (55%)
59.2
1/4 reported Β· small overlap, updated moderate overlap, updated side, headlights
Occupant-protection details (25%)
0.0
0/4 reported Β· rear restraints, rear head, safety cage, front restraints
Pedestrian front crash prevention (10%)
Not reported
IIHS pedestrian AEB result: not yet published
Class context (10%)
47.5
Damped class-level driver death-rate term; award status is shown above but carries no weight
Injury-measure average (tiebreak only)
85.0
Mean of 10 published injury measures across the three crash tests. Orders vehicles with equal scores; carries no weight in the score.

Full formula, weights, and missing-data rules β†’

NHTSA 5-star rating

2025 Nissan LEAF (40 KWh Battery) 5 HB FWD

Overallβ˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…
Frontal crashβ˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜†
Side crashβ˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…
Rolloverβ˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜† 10.7% risk

NHTSA stars are shown for reference and carry no weight in the score. NHTSA source. Why the two programs disagree β†’

Real-world context

MeasureResultWhat it covers
Class driver death rate54 per million registered vehicle-yearsSmall cars as a class, adjusted for driver age and sex (Farmer, 2023); all vehicles average 38. Class context only.

Other model years of the Nissan Leaf

Model yearStatusIIHS awardPrimary tests reportedScore
2026 Nissan Leaf Current listing β€” 4/4 85.6

Each model year keeps its own record. Ratings from one year are never copied to another unless IIHS states the test applies.

Our analysis

The 2025 Nissan Leaf belongs to the Small cars class. This class has an above-average driver death rate compared with the national average of 38 deaths per million registered vehicle-years, which usually reflects lighter weight and smaller size in multi-vehicle crashes. The class figure is adjusted for driver age and sex, which removes a large part of the selection effect in raw death rates. It is still a class average, not a measurement of this model.

The Nissan Leaf has no IIHS Top Safety Pick award for 2025. That can mean a result below the award threshold in one test, or tests IIHS has not completed. Absence of an award is not evidence that the vehicle is unsafe.

Across the 2 IIHS rating categories reported, the Nissan Leaf earned 0 Good ratings. Results below Good deserve attention, especially the updated frontal and side tests that IIHS toughened in 2022 and 2023. Our updated crash test analysis explains what changed.

This analysis is produced independently; we have no affiliation with Nissan or any manufacturer. Read the full methodology or learn more about us.

Safety recalls for the 2025 Nissan Leaf

NHTSA does not yet list this model year in its recall database. That usually means the vehicle is too new to appear, not that it has been cleared.

Questions about the 2025 Nissan Leaf