Overview

he Nissan Leaf was once a pioneering car in the race towards electrification. The first mass-produced electric car, it offered a relatively low-cost package in the electric C-segment class decades before rivals, and was a glowing testament to the brand’s ambition of bringing EV motoring to the mainstream. However, the speed at which rivals have advanced has made life tricky for the Leaf, so to react Nissan’s given us an all-new generation – and this one isn’t resting on its laurels.

That’s because this third generation Leaf is a totally different proposition to the one that came before. It now rides on a new platform, and rather than taking the shape of a traditional VW Golf-like hatchback, now features a crossover-like fastback body. It also comes with a far more impressive range figure and a cutting-edge interior.

It’s clear that Nissan did not need to set out to build a high performance or fun-to-drive EV, and on those counts it has certainly succeeded. Yet this makes the Leaf feel much more in tune with its key buying demographic: those looking for a calm, comfortable and confidence-inspiring electric car driving experience.

Outright performance from our 75kWh model is more than enough in day-to-day driving, but more impressive is the throttle calibration and smoothness. There’s nothing jerky or too urgent about the front-mounted e-motor’s acceleration, which will cleanly apply power without a chirp from the tyres, even in Sports mode.

The ride quality is even more impressive, the Leaf makes soft and cosseting progress without feeling too underdamped, or as though it doesn’t have enough suspension travel to deal with big bumps. By comparison, a Volkswagen ID.3 feels a little bouncy, and the Kia EV3 feels more connected to the road, but lacks the polish and bump isolation that the Leaf offers.

Overall refinement is also excellent. There are good levels of sound deadening from road roar and very little wind noise.

Nissan quotes a 0-62mph time of 7.6 seconds for the 75kWh model and that feels about right in the real world. With 215bhp and a hefty battery pack, the Leaf wasn’t likely to be a surprise hot-rod, but it gives the model enough performance to never feel like it’s struggling to keep up with traffic. Top speed is limited to 100mph.

We’re finally starting to see some real progress with low-cost EVs in terms of range, and the new Nissan Leaf is no exception. Nissan offers two battery packs, both of which feel nicely rationalised to give customers different electric car propositions depending on their needs.

The first option is the base 52kWh setup that has a good range figure of around 270 miles on the WLTP cycle. Nissan says this model has been created to offer customers in more urban environments a good balance between range and cost, while also being more efficient thanks to its lighter battery pack.

The long-range variant has a slightly different mandate, with high motorway mileage being the key deliverable. As such, its battery pack is enlarged to 75kWh, giving this relatively small electric car a comparatively big range of up to 375 miles. Nissan has also gone to great lengths to extensively test the car’s high speed range, giving us a self-verified high-speed range of just nearly 270 miles at an average speed of 70mph.

Nissan Leaf standard-range 270 miles
Nissan Leaf long-range 375 miles

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