The first Leaf was something of a pioneer – certainly not the first electric car, but arguably the one that made the idea more mainstream. It was futuristic and fun, even if it had serious limitations in terms of range.
Now the geeky EV adolescent has matured in its third generation into a mainstream contender and, in a burgeoning fleet of EV offerings, can stand up against any of its rivals.
Built on a completely new platform, in styling terms, Nissan has managed to find that sweet spot between crossover and family fastback. It’s sleek, roomy and just quirky enough to catch the eye. Its nearest new rival is no longer the hatchbacks, but rather the Toyota C-HR +, another impressive new EV due on our roads next year.
The new Leaf’s maturity is not just reflected in its range or tech. This is a much better car to drive than its predecessor. The outgoing Leaf had an ardent and loyal following due to its EV credentials, but its driving dynamics fell short of those of its rivals.
READ MORE
It’s still not the most engaging or entertaining car to drive, but it has made a massive leap compared to previous Leafs. Let’s start with the ride and handling. Nissan cars – sports models excepted – have always felt rather light, and the ride often rudimentary. This time, the steering weight is much more communicative, while the overall ride feels stiffer and well balanced.
On a mix of tight country roads, undulating back roads and sweeping motorways, our Leaf test car never lost its poise. It’s nicely tuned to be less bouncy than the VW ID.3 and ID.4, yet as communicative as Korean rivals such as the Kia EV.3.
Nissan could have followed others by turning the dial towards high performance or turning towards more dynamic driving characteristics. But it seems the Japanese car giant opted to meet the needs of its current owner base, those looking for comfortable transport with reassuring handling and accompanied safety systems.
[ The secrets behind the new Nissan Leaf’s style: ‘Hopefully it’s a pleasant shock’Opens in new window ]
Kicking down on our test car – the 75kWh version – and the claimed time of 7.5 seconds feels about right: pacy but not surging.
These traits deliver a comfortable ride for passengers in a cabin that’s tastefully adorned in quality materials. Gone are the days when this model of Nissan was awash with hard plastics.
The finish of the cabin is now akin to mainstream rivals, with the right mix of touchscreen controls and haptic buttons for the most frequently used features. The screen is easy to navigate, and the software seems responsive.
The only tarnish to comfortably enjoying your time in this car is its over-intrusive safety alert (ADAS) systems. Exceed the speed limit even slightly, and it chimes like a church bell. Similar annoying acoustics remind you that if your eyes stray from the road ahead, you veer towards the edge of the lane – even to avoid something in the road – or, God forbid, you veer out of lane.
All sound safety features, but you can do without this level of cacophony, and the fact that it often misreads speed limits means it’s chiming at you on the motorway when it wrongly picks up the speed limit sign from a passing exit junction.
There is a procedure to silence this, and it was provided to us on a detailed one-page A4 sheet, but we didn’t manage to get the combination of instructions right.
These issues aside, the Leaf is a much more mature car in terms of its dynamics.
Alongside improved driving traits, there are some significant advances in battery tech.
As mentioned, a common gripe was that while Leaf was an EV pioneer, it was getting left behind by the rapid advances in battery tech and, in particular, range. That’s sorted now.
Remember, this was a car that in its first generation was delivering less than 200km in range, though that wasn’t to be sniffed at back then, when most other EVs barely got close to that and were the size of shopping trolleys.
This Leaf comes with two battery options: an entry 52kWh set-up with a range of just under 440km and the larger 75kWh pack delivering a very impressive WLTP official range of 604km.
In terms of charging speeds, Nissan claims the 52kWh battery can do so at a maximum DC rate of 105kW, while the larger battery pack can charge at up to 150kW. Ultimately, it means both versions should charge from 20 per cent to 80 per cent in under 30 minutes, thereby delivering ranges of either 260km or 360km in that time, depending on the battery pack. And all that charging is done – thankfully – using a regular CCS plug rather than the Chademo plug that is now destined to be merely the answer to future petrolhead pub quiz tiebreakers.
[ Don’t scrap an older electric vehicle – just upgrade itOpens in new window ]
The 52kWh version is aimed at urban and suburban customers looking for a good balance between range and price, while the larger battery pack tested here is aimed at those who will be doing significant motorway mileage.
Nissan has devoted a lot of attention to the efficiencies that can be achieved to create a realistic motorway-speed range prediction. The Leaf’s ability to bring real-life efficiency to long motorway journeys in an EV could well be its biggest advantage over rivals and the hook to lure a new cohort of buyers.
On our mix of roads, we averaged 18.7kWh/100km, which is impressive for this size of car and the fact that we were driving more aggressively than most buyers will on the commuter run.
The Leaf also comes with Nissan’s e-pedal mode, offering single-pedal driving where it noticeably slows quite strongly once you lift off the throttle. Unlike earlier iterations, however, this one can be adjusted using paddles on the steering wheel to lighten the regenerative braking.
Clearly, we need to wait for some indication on pricing. But several hours’ driving this new Leaf convinced us that the car, which 15 years ago had a head start in the EV race before being overtaken by rivals, is back with the leading pack. It delivers on comfort and refinement, and matches rivals on battery performance and range. If Nissan can get the price right, this could be a real hit.
