Nissan Leaf (2017 - ) Electric review

The Leaf seems expensive compared to some of its newer electric rivals like the MG4 given it has a larger battery for less money. However, drive the Leaf in an economical manner – helped by some of the in-car graphics that show how much energy you’re using – and you should be able to get 160-170 miles out of its 40kWh battery. If you have the capability to charge at home, then this should help keep running costs down, while company car drivers will also have abenefit-in-kind tax advantage for running an electric car. When you need to top up at a public fast charger you’ll notice an area where the Leaf falls behind its competitors. The Leaf can receive up to 50kW which is slow by today’s standards, and it still uses a CHAdeMO type connection rather than the newer CCS. This might limit the places where you’ll be able to plug in. The introduction of the Shiro trim last year helped the Leaf retains some of its value for money credentials and it remains cheaper than other rivals like the Renault Zoe and new Hyundai Kona Electric as a result. Both these alternatives provide more range however the Leaf will go further on a charge than Mazda’s MX-30 which starts at a similar price. If you can cope with the Shiro trim only being available in white then this choice will keep purchase costs down.

Nissan as a brand has a decent reputation for reliability, sitting in fourth place in JD Power’s 2019 Vehicle Dependability Study, which ranks manufacturers based on performance. In the more recent 2023 WhatCar? Reliabilty survey the Leaf was rated the third most reliable electric car, while Nissan as a brand ranked 19 out of 32 brands surveyed. Nissan offers an eight-year warranty on the battery, a five-year/60,000-mile high-voltage component warranty and a three-year/60,000-mile warranty on the rest of the car, which should give you peace of mind.

Whilst the Leaf was ahead of the curve, in the last few years it’s become normal for cars to come with an array of safety features as standard. However, the Leaf can still hold its own with all trim levels including automatic emergency braking, which will intervene if you don’t react to an impending accident. All cars also have lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, six airbags and two Isofix child seat mounting points. Tekna models come with a full ProPilot system, which includes automatic steering and adaptive cruise control, and this is also included on the Shrio model but is not available on the mid-priced Acenta or N-Connecta levels. It’s essentially a form of semi-autonomous driving, controlling the speed on motorways automatically, and helping you stay in the centre of the lane. You still need your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road, though.

The interior of the Leaf isn’t its strongest point and compared to Nissan’s newer EV, the Ariya, it is looking particularly dated. The seating position doesn’t adjust as much as we’d like, leaving taller drivers sitting too high, and the steering column doesn’t adjust for reach at all, which is very unusual these days. So, before you get too hung up on the idea of a Leaf, check first that you’re the right shape. The dashboard area is very cluttered, with more than 50 buttons dotted around, and the plastics are very hard to the touch in an age of soft-touch materials, but to Nissan’s credit, they are all very solidly assembled. Some of those buttons help control the infotainment system. The 8.0-inch screen still feels on the small side compared to rivals. There’s plenty of room for four tall adults in the Leaf, and a fifth at a squeeze in the middle of the back row, and while there’s no fold-down central armrest in the back, you do get several cubby holes and pockets elsewhere around the cabin to store odds and ends. If you fold the rear seats down there’s a huge lip between them and the boot floor, which restricts the space a bit, and if you have the optional Bose sound system, which is standard on the Tekna version, it places a big lump of audio hardware on the boot floor, which gets in the way somewhat. That said, the boot itself is a decent size – not quite as big as the Honda Civic’s, but bigger than either the Ford Focus’s or Volkswagen Golf’s. The Leaf is set up for comfort rather than thrills, and benefits from a nicely supple ride that massages out most lumps and bumps in the road. The steering could use a bit more feel, but it doesn’t really get in the way of everyday driving, and the Leaf stays fairly level when cornering. It’s a perfectly capable machine for driving around town or cruising on the motorway.

The pricing of the Shrio model makes it the cheapest Leaf, but it is based on the mid-range N-Connecta with added ProPilot Assist. There’s no choice of colours but if you are prepared to forgo this you’ll be rewarded with more features. Acenta is the entry-level car but still comes with a rear-view camera, keyless entry, Apple Car Play and Android Auto for integration with your smartphone, as well as a leather-wrapped steering wheel and air conditioning. The N-Connecta has synthetic leather upholstery, heated seats, and a 360 degree monitor that shows an overhead view of the car when parking or manoeuvring, as well as parking sensors. The Tekna has part-leather seats, an electronic parking brake and an uprated Bose stereo system.

Nissan used to offer the Leaf with two battery sizes but the longer range 62kWh E+ is no longer an option, though you may see them for sale second-hand. All new variants come with the 40kWh battery now, which is paired to a 150 horsepower motor for zippy acceleration. As electric cars don’t need a gearbox, this is brisk and uninterrupted by gear changes, and is great for quickly nipping past a slow-moving tractor or getting up to speed on the motorway. The Leaf regenerates electricity and puts it back into the battery when you lift off the accelerator, and you can also control the level of regeneration. At the highest level, this acts like a brake – Nissan calls it the e-Pedal – and means that 90 per cent of the time you can drive the Leaf using one pedal. Many EVs now come with a variety of regeneration settings, but the e-Pedal on the Leaf was where it all started, and it remains one of the best.