Leaf blows away competition

Nissan’s new Leaf is our Electric Car of the Year.

With this second-generation design, Nissan claims a homologated driving range of 235 miles from the standard model – and there’ll be a further ‘e-plus’ version to follow with an even more powerful battery that claims a driving range of up to 310 miles.

Even if you think in terms of a ‘real world’ driving range being about two-thirds of those total figures, you can’t deny these readings are an impressive improvement, representing a 50% increase over the final version of the previous model.

Helping here is the larger 40kWh lithium-ion battery you get this time round (up in power from 30kWh but no larger in terms of actual size). It produces 110kW (which equates to 148bhp), which significantly improves on the previous model’s figures of 80kW/108bhp.

The MK2 model shape is certainly sleeker; Nissan says it now has a slippery drag coefficient of 0.27Cd. And the whole structure’s stiffer, too, torsional rigidity having improved by 15%. Importantly, interior practicality is also much improved, notably in terms of boot space, up from 370 to 435 litres. The designers have tried to give the cabin a more premium feel, with upgraded materials and a smarter look for the 7-inch centre-dash infotainment touchscreen.

Leaf pricing will sit mainly in the £22,000 to £27,500 bracket in terms of outright purchase, once the £4,500 government grant has been deducted. There are Visia, Acenta, N-Connecta and Tekna trim levels.

Quite a number of 50kW charging points are springing up in our cities and once you locate one of these, you’ll be able to regularly recharge your Leaf from empty to 80% capacity in just 40 minutes.

Little by little, allelectric motoring is widening its customer reach. And, as it’s always been, the Leaf remains right at the forefront of that change.