Nissan Leaf review

Once upon a time, the Nissan Leaf was THE electric car. It was the world's first affordable EV, the biggest-selling, the only one that was global: made in three continents including this one. So Nissan knows a lot about battery cars as it's built 700,000 of them since 2010. Enough to stretch to the moon lots of times, or fill several Olympic swimming pools… or something.

But then Nissan kinda lost its way. Out came a second Leaf, but it was more of a version 1.5, taking advantage of the fact competition was absent. Long journeys remained a slog because it didn't go far, then charged painfully slowly. But it was a fine car for home-charging owners and is still cherished by them, riding a solid-gold reputation for reliability and quality. Which is more than you can say for a lot of EVs.

So the new one can take for granted sky-high name recognition. But it is – and has to be – a completely new generation of car, numberplate to numberplate.

Because it's now capable of long trips, it can be a family's first car. So it's roomier, by virtue of extra height (not length; it's actually shorter). Its lower Cd of 0.25 more than offsets its bigger frontal area. Its electrical system is vastly more efficient and its tyres roll with less resistance. It goes further on a charge, and recharges faster. The interior and HMI are unrecognisably better.

But other EVs are available. What are the rivals?

Very fair point. You won't be comparing it to the old Leaf, a car that's been around for almost a decade and a half. You want to know if it's up with the best of today's competition. It's pitched between saloons and crossovers. That leaves us with the Toyota C-HR, Kia EV3 and EV4, Tesla Model 3, Peugeot E-408, VW ID.3, Skoda Elroq, Volvo EX40, and Smart #3. And many more.

What is this new range and charging?

Two battery options, at 52kWh for 270 miles and 75kWh for up to 375 miles WLTP on the narrower tyre option. If you look at those ranges, the two Leafs manage on smaller batteries than most rivals that travel as far. So at least in the WLTP cycle the Leaf is an efficient car.

Charge time is competitive rather than striking. The modern water-cooled battery makes steady use of a 150kW charger for 10-80 per cent on the big-battery version in half an hour. Very different from the old one. That car's CHAdeMO socket and battery with air cooling meant a feeble 50kW and an hour and a quarter to do the same recharge.

An approach of marginal gains seems to have helped motorway range, always an EV bugbear. So a steady 70mph (slightly more on the speedo) gets you 267 miles. That's good.

Is it Tesla-quick?

No. Do Tesla owners use the power anyway? The Leaf, being less aggressively motored, is easier to drive in traffic. But it's perfectly strong enough for most main-road overtakes and posts an absolutely class-average 0-62mph time of 7.6 seconds for the bigger-battery version. More numbers in the Driving section of this review. It's FWD but gets away smoothly so wheelspin isn't an issue.

It drives well. It feels trustworthy and predictable even as you chuck it at a bend. It doesn't grip too hard, so you can have fun using all the grip at not-mad speeds. It has a very well-wrought compromise of high-speed damping versus low-speed comfort.

What about the design?

We like it. It treads its very confident path, being obviously smooth while avoiding the blobbiness of endless Chinese crossovers. It should be timeless, and the lighting and other details are neat and original. If only it weren't so tall. Check the motif in the rear lights and charge port – two upright lines and three horizontals. That's Japanese numerals. A Japanese speaker pronounces '2 3' as 'ni san'.

Would a design critic enjoy the cabin too?

Probably. Like the outside it's calming and well considered. Material quality is good, and the dash and control interface is among the best, even if the screen graphics are a little utilitarian.

Never mind a design critic, we need to think about a taxi passenger, for this is the fate of many secondhand Leafs. It's roomy back there, flat-floored for three fare-sharers.

Is it Sunderland-native?

Yes, it's still made by the River Wear, and the batteries are from an adjacent plant. It shares its permanent-magnet motor type with the Qashqai e-power hybrid. The Ariya is made in Japan on a bigger version of the same basic structure but has an all-coil motor.

It's like the Leaf has skipped an entire generation. It shows all the progress that it needed to, and more.

It's now up there with the best EVs in the class for all the measures of electric-drive competence – range, efficiency and charging. One caveat through – in writing this we have yet to get news on the price. If it ends up stickered like a Mercedes CLA, then, no, its range and efficiency are not competitive.

It also does well as a family car, with plenty of space and practicality, because these are the Qashqai people and they pretty much invented the modern post-hatchback family crossover.

As for the person in the driver's seat, it manages to overcome the modern bugbears of endless touchscreen menu-diving to do the simplest task. Also the driver assist doesn't just work well, it's straightforward to customise, AKA quench.

But more than that, the Leaf actually drives likeably. Literally as well as visually, it's a well-rounded and finessed car.