The Big Test: Nissan Leaf 2018

On the road

Nissan’s Leaf was a pioneer when it launched in 2010 – the first ‘proper’ full electric car. It’s now the first electric car to reach a second-generation model, with the arrival of the all-new Leaf, a car the brand has been describing as a “game-changer” on several levels.

The three main pillars Nissan is focused on are ones it brands Intelligent Power, Intelligent Driving and Intelligent Integration, while it also highlights the styling improvements, swapping to a more edgy design than the rounded predecessor.

Intelligent Power covers the new 40kWh electric powertrain that offers more performance and significantly improved battery range, Intelligent Driving covers the safety equipment designed to reduce driver fatigue, and Intelligent Integration is the longer-term goal of using the car to help combat power shortages at peak times by feeding stored energy back into the grid, and then recharging the car overnight when there’s less stress on the network. That last one is a more distant goal, but the others apply right now.

For the uninitiated, the Leaf is a full-electric car, which means it runs solely on battery power, with no hybrid systems providing petrol- or diesel-engined back-up.

The key thing with these cars is range. And for the Leaf it’s very much a good news story, although much of that message is lost in the general Government-orchestrated chaos of the move from the old NEDC efficiency tests to the new and more ‘real-world’ WLTP measurements.

Comparing like with like, the range of the new Leaf is 67 miles better than the outgoing car’s. So, under the old NEDC test, its range figure is 235 miles, which is beaten only by the smaller Renault Zoe or the much more expensive Tesla Model S and Model X. Under the new test regime, the official figure is actually 168 miles, and in our experience it’s a very realistic one in everyday usage. For example, we found the predicted range dropped by 57 miles on a 55.6-mile journey taking in motorways (at a 65mph cruise), urban and single carriageway roads, and a 10.9-mile urban run took only nine miles off the projected range.

Pick up the speed or accelerate more aggressively and that drops away; more rapid journeys were recording around 90% of the indicated range, which still means a fairly comfortable 140 miles between charges. That’s plenty for the majority of journeys, and if it’s not enough on a regular basis then that user is doing the miles to justify sticking with diesel, whatever the newspapers may be coming out with. If it’s not enough on an occasional basis then it takes very little time to get into the EV mindset of planning a recharge stop. From the low battery alert to 80% full using a 50kW quick charger takes 45-60 minutes, while a full wallbox charge overnight from empty to full takes 7.5 hours. On top of all that, the navigation system offers real-time information on charging points. All-in-all, there’s not much of a mental adjustment required for most people to settle into an EV lifestyle, given the financial benefits in terms of fuel, taxation and maintenance costs, and the Leaf makes it a straightforward process.

This latest Leaf went on sale earlier this year with five trim levels, but Nissan has now lopped off the top and bottom ones; the launch trim of 2.Zero has sold out, and the entry-level Visia has been dropped due to a claimed lack of demand as buyers go for the higher models.

That leaves Acenta, N-Connecta and the top-spec Tekna version driven here.

All get a very impressive level of safety technology, covering blind-spot alert, autonomous emergency braking including pedestrian recognition, cross-traffic alert, lane-departure warning and intelligent lane intervention, and the Leaf was recently the first car to take, and earn the maximum five stars in, the more stringent updated Euro NCAP crash test.

Context

The first-generation Leaf was a bit of a success, with Nissan selling more than 280,000 cars worldwide, making it the number one electric car since it went on sale in 2010. It has remained by far the biggest-selling pure electric car in the UK, grabbing almost half of full EV sales.

In fact, during the gap from old to new at the turn of the year, the downturn in EV sales was so noticeable that ill-informed commentators that hadn’t made the link were asking if electric car sales were dying off, when the plunge was caused solely by one model not being available.

The first-generation car, which Nissan describes as the “first mass-market electric vehicle”, won the European Car of the Year award in 2011, a first for a plug-in vehicle, and the new model got off to a flying start at the beginning of this year, with Nissan claiming 12,000 orders in the first three months worldwide. That has since passed the 20,000 mark, taking the Leaf over 300,000 sales across its two generations.

The original Leaf had an official 124-mile range, which was raised in 2016 to 155 miles with the addition of a 30kW battery, compared to the new car’s 40kW and 235 miles, all using the same NEDC test figures.

Verdict