CAR REVIEW – Nissan LEAF Electric Car

*We were loaned the Nissan Leaf Electric Car in return for a review. All opinions are our own.

What is the Nissan Leaf?

First produced in 2010 the Nissan Leaf is one of the originals in the electric Car market. An Award winning fully electric car, it provides a roomy, smooth drive with some really great features.

We were driving the Nissan Leaf E+ 3.ZERO which has a driving range of 239 miles on a full battery. This is a really good range and much improved on earlier electric cars. As a family we would rarely, if ever, do a journey of this length without stopping to stretch our legs (or go to the toilet!). So factoring in a charge is not difficult at all.

The Nissan Leaf won ‘Car of the Year’ in the 2019 Stuff Gadget Awards and having driven it for a week, I can see why!

Why did we choose the Nissan Leaf?

We actually already drive a Nissan Qashqui (which, incidentally, we love) so the opportunity to try an electric car from a car manufacturer that we already like was great.

Dave has been really keen on getting an electric car for a long time now. The environmental benefit of driving one is hard to ignore and, having read that the electric car market reached 2 million sales by 2019 we were keen to find out more.

The Nissan Leaf e+ 3.Zero that we drove for the week is priced at £37,490 plus the optional extra of the Two-Tone Pearl Black Roof for £350. There are, however, a range of different types of Leaf, starting at £26,845. Whilst the initial cost of an electric car can be more than a Petrol or diesel car, apparently the running costs can be around a fifth. Which is certainly appealing!

What is the Nissan Leaf like to drive?

Practically silent, and incredibly smooth you immediately notice that there’s no shifting through gears and it just effortlessly picks up speed. It’s nippy when necessary and manouverability is good. We drove it on all different types of road and it handled really well.

Internal features of the Nissan Leaf

Besides the fact that the interior of the Nissan Leaf is really attractive, there are a number of really handy key features.

• The E-Pedal was fantastic and felt really inovative. You don’t have to use it but if it’s switched on, then ‘one foot driving’ is possible. When you lift your foot from the accelerator the car breaks using the regen system. It’s very clever and once you get used to it, makes driving the car even simpler than even an automatic car. We used it the entire time we had the car.

• The around view Camera was very good and extremely helpful for parking (the birdseye view camera allows you to see clearly the parking space you are parking in). We also found that it gave us a good view pulling out of our driveway, even more essential than normal considering how quiet the car is.

• On one particularly cold morning I was pleased to discover the individually heated front seats. I also found the car seats very comfortable as did Dave (who is particularly fussy as he has chronic back pain).

• Whilst not as big as our Qashqui’s boot we were impressed with the size of the boot on the Leaf. We managed to fit both girls bikes in there for a bike ride. Then separately I used it to store our pushchair for various trips out during the week.

• Both girls (age 6 and 3) loved the car and said they were very comfortable in the back. Their car seats were easy to fit and I found they had plenty of room in the back, even with all the toys they insist on taking everywhere!

• The Satnav and Audio system were good and attractively designed.

The outside of the Nissan Leaf

I really liked the look of the Nissan Leaf. The newest version of the Leaf has a more sporty look than previous incarnations, and it’s a really lovely looking car. The version we drove had the additional two tone Pearl Black roof which was a nice attractive extra.

As with our Qashqui, I really like the rear tinted windows (as do the girls as the sun doesn’t glare in their eyes).

Charging the Nissan Leaf

This was something that prior to this week I knew very little about. Once I got my head around the different types of charger (generally Rapid or slow), and which ones the Nissan Leaf used I found it fairly straight forward. Overall my experience with charging the car was positive. I got to know where local charge points were and it was particularly convenient that there was one at two local supermarkets so I could charge the car whilst I shopped. The rapid charger charged a good amount of the battery in 45 minutes.

If we bought a Nissan Leaf we would have an at home charger (as do most people who own an Electric car), which would make it easier as you’d always be able to have a full charge as you left home. This particular Leaf apparently takes 11hrs 30 minutes to charge from empty to full.

What did we do during the time we had the Nissan Leaf?

Half term, a weeks long school holiday in the UK, was a perfect time to test out the Nissan Leaf. We did all the normal things we do in a week, visited the shops, the park and went out for food. But the highlight was when we drove the car into London, to visit the Tower of London.

One of the best things about driving an electric car in London is that it’s exempt from the congestion zone fee, as it’s a fully electric car. There was an underground car park next to the Tower of London and it cost £14 for our stay. This is a fraction of the price of getting the train into the City. Not to mention how easy it was!

Conclusion

All of us were very impressed with the Nissan Leaf. Dave loved the eco friendly nature of it, I loved the look and feel of it and the girls just full stop loved it (they stood and waved forlornly as it was driven off after the week was over!)

It’s a great car for a family, providing plenty of space and comfort as well as being good for the environment. We would highly recommend it to anyone considering going electric!

For more reviews check out our review of Trunki products here, or our experience of Glamping in Wales here.