For this money (or even less) you can get a Prius. Not a plug-in. Do not focus on plug-in vehicles - batteries today are not very efficient, both in terms of stored energy and in terms of cost.
You will not be able to make the round trip in a Leaf with enough charge left to allow heater, headlights, and other loads without charging at work. However what if you cannot charge at work? What if you have to go somewhere else before or after work? Those are very real scenarios. A hybrid removes this worry from your mind.
Cost-wise, a Prius in a city will give you about 45-50 mpg. Your daily commute is 75 miles, that would burn (in worst case) 1.6 gallons that today cost $6. If you do it every work day, $6 * 5 * 4 = $133. I leave more than that in a grocery store whenever I go there. It would be diminishing returns to optimize further.
Good advice re the Pius. At first when I coined the nickname Pius for the Prius due to the green lefties driving them, I was correct.
Now, a lot of conservatives and non enviral whacko’s own the Priuses, and love them. Our cul de sac has more Priuses than any other car make, and all of the owners love them. Most have a bigger vehicle for vacations and long drives.
My husband drives around 750 miles a week for work so we just bought our 2nd Prius. Our oldest Prius(2007) has over 200,000 miles and has only been in the shop once for air conditioning problem. Of course with have a Hemi Charger and a BMW for around town driving LOL!! The Prius literally has paid for itself by the savings in gas