Nissan Leaf

The Nissan Leaf is a friendly introduction to the world of electric motoring

Overview

The Nissan Leaf was one of the first electric cars to appear on UK roads. It’s been around for ages.

There are two battery sizes and the larger e+ series brings much improved range on a single charge.

The Leaf is a really practical, family hatchback. Room for 5, biggish boot, easy to drive and comfortable.

It was also one of the first EVs to introduce ‘one-pedal driving’ – basically you can drive about in most situations just using the accelerator pedal. As you lift off the accelerator, the car will automatically start braking. Once you’re used to it, you’ll never look back. It’s all part of the energy-saving regenerative braking system.

Our quick review below focusses on key electric areas, such as charging times and costs both at home and in public, how far you are likely to be able to travel before needing to recharge, electric motor efficiency v. petrol/diesel, plus stats on boot space, dimensions, top speed, etc.

Nissan Leaf Price, Trims & Variants

The price of the Nissan Leaf starts at £28,495 for the base Shiro trim, and goes up to £31,995 for the top spec Tekna trim. Here are all the variants:

Range & Batteries

How far can you drive on a full charge of the battery in the Nissan Leaf? In ideal conditions, you should be able to achieve the official ‘WLTP’ range in miles. However in winter, for example, electric car batteries don’t perform as well, and actual range will be lower.

This table shows both the more optimistic WLTP range, and a rough, more likely ‘average’ range for the various versions of the Leaf:

Efficiency

We are all used to ‘miles per gallon’ of petrol or diesel when thinking about efficiency in traditional cars. With EVs, you need to replace ‘gallon’ with ‘kWh’. 1 kWh = 1 unit of electricity. So the ‘miles per kWh’ measure tells you how many miles you can go on 1 kWh of electricity – the higher the number the better.

Here’s data for the Leaf, together with an equivalent in miles per gallon (yes, electric cars really are that efficient!):

Charging Times & Costs

If you have off-street parking, the best and cheapest place to charge your Leaf is at home. Depending on your home energy tariff, you’ll either charge at a standard flat rate or at a lower off-peak rate. The 0-100% charge times below are a ‘worst case’ scenario – typically you will charge 1-2 hours a day, or maybe go for a longer charge on just a couple of days a week.

Charging at Home on an Off-peak rate of 10p per kWh

Charging at Home on a Peak rate of 34p per kWh

When you’re on a trip, you can get a quick boost at a rapid charger. These vary in terms of charging speed and you are also limited by the Nissan’s maximum charging rate. Take the 10-80% charging times with a pinch of salt – the charging rate will gradually decrease and times are often longer.

Charging in Public at a 50 kW Rapid Charger at a rate of 50p per kWh

Charging in Public at a 150 kW Rapid Charger at a rate of 60p per kWh

Charging in Public at a 350 kW Rapid Charger at a rate of 70p per kWh

Performance

The Nissan Leaf, like all pure electric cars, has its wheels turned by one or more electric motors. The motors themselves are powered by a lithium-ion battery. Battery + electric motor is a great combination, giving you instant torque with no gears to change.

You’ll find the Leaf eerily quiet after an internal combustion engine. Here are the performance stats:

Nissan Leaf Boot Space & Dimensions

The Leaf is a hatchback, and its boot space can be further increased by folding the rear seats down. Here are all the boot and dimensions measurements:

Boot Space & Cargo Volume

Dimensions

Next Steps

We hope you’ve enjoyed this brief analysis of the Nissan Leaf. We’ve focussed mainly on potentially unfamiliar electric car related items, such as batteries, range and charging.

Where to next?

1. Narrow down your EV search in a systematic way using our Car Selector tool
2. Read more about the Leaf at Nissan’s UK website
3. If you’re ready to go, consider leasing the Nissan Leaf from a low-cost broker