Nissan Leaf Review & Prices

Nissan has turned a new Leaf with the latest version of its iconic electric car. Where the previous models have been super-sensible electric hatchbacks, the new Leaf has gained a bit of height to become a good-looking little SUV.

It’s a bit like your (slightly boring) mate who you’ve not seen all summer, but has come back for the new term after having a growth spurt. The new Leaf is more handsome than its predecessors, too. It’s had a glow-up, if you will.

Where the first-generation car was a bit blobby around the edges, and the last model awkward in places, the latest Leaf has a fresh design, reminiscent of the larger Ariya. There’s a full-width light bar at the front and taillights that resemble those low-hanging lightbulbs you get in a trendy bar.

Nissan Leaf: electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 272-386 miles
Efficiency: 4.5mi/kWh
Battery size: 52kWh, 75kWh
Max charge speed: 105kW (52kWh), 150kW (75kWh)
Charge time AC: 8hrs30mins (52kWh), 11hrs30mins (75kWh) 10-100%, 7kW
Charge time DC: 30mins, 20-80%, 105kW (52kWh), 150kW (75kWh)
Charge port location: Right side front
Power outputs: 215hp

The interior looks funky too. You get a wraparound dash-top that joins up to the door cards, while the lower dashboard sticks out like a board, with the dual-screen infotainment/driver display set up perched on top. The materials are generally pleasant, and build quality is solid too.

There’s plenty of storage space up front, with door bins large enough for big water bottles, a pair of cupholders down low between the seats, a centre console cubby and two gloveboxes under the dash. Rear seat space is lacking, but the 437-litre boot capacity is generous enough.

You can choose from two battery options: the entry-level 52kWh unit which offers a claimed 271 miles of range, or the larger 75kWh pack which can go up to 386 miles - more than the Kia EV3 and top-spec Skoda Elroq. The 150kW maximum charging speed on big battery models is on par with alternatives, but 105kW charging on entry-level cars is lacklustre.

On the road the Leaf does a very good job of being an everyday car. It’s far from exciting, but it’s very comfortable, the steering is direct and it’s easy to set off and stop smoothly.

Motorway journeys are pleasant, though there’s noticeable wind noise from the side windows, and the Leaf does a good job of keeping body lean in check on a country lane. It is a little bouncy on rougher sections of road at higher speeds, but it’s far from a dealbreaker, and no worse than in its alternatives.

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The Nissan Leaf will start at around £33,000 for the entry-level Engage trim with the small battery, though it’s not on sale in the UK yet and will follow the big battery model. The big battery version starts at £36,000 in the same trim level, but we don’t have pricing information for the higher spec examples yet, or options.

That places the Leaf almost on par with the Kia EV3 and the Skoda Elroq, with prices rising largely in line for the extra battery capacity which promises more range than its Czech and Korean counterparts. The Leaf is also expected to receive the full £3,750 electric car grant, too.

The Nissan Leaf is quick enough for daily use and very comfortable, but don’t expect it to be exciting in the bends

In town

On city roads the Leaf is a very comfortable way to get around. Its suspension does an excellent job of softening pothole blows and cushioning speed bumps, and the steering feels direct while being neither comically light or arm-achingly heavy. Forward visibility is generally good, though the front pillars are chunky and you have to crane your neck around them at times.

The seating position is quite high, so you can peer over smaller cars in traffic. If you prefer the car to do the braking for you, you can increase the amount of regenerative braking - where the motor slows the car down and recharges the battery - and the ‘e-pedal’ function takes the strain out of city standstills by allowing the Leaf to come to a standstill without you touching the brake.

Nissan has included a handy sensor-based braking system, meaning the Leaf scans traffic ahead of you and automatically slows down in line with it, which is actually very intuitive. We found it easiest to leave the car in full-coasting mode and let it judge its own brake regeneration, for maximum efficiency.

Nissan has shortened the Leaf compared to the old car, quite substantially, which combined with the large side mirrors and standard-fit parking cameras makes it easy to park in small spaces.

And when you’re not one-pedal driving, coming to a smooth stop is a piece of cake - though that comes at the expense of a sharp pedal at speed. Acceleration is brisk enough and steady, so getting away from the lights is a breeze.

On the motorway

Motorway driving is just as simple, as it’s easy to get up to national speed limits in the Leaf with its strong, smooth acceleration. The smaller battery model gets to 62mph in 8.4 seconds while the bigger battery version - which we drove - manages the same sprint in 7.6 seconds.

Once you get up to speed the Leaf is very composed with very little in the way of road noise, though there is a fair amount of wind noise around the tops of the doors. Nonetheless, it’s not too noticeable over music, but a shame considering how well insulated the rest of the cabin is.

The adaptive cruise control is easy to set, while the lane-keeping function is less fidgety than in some alternatives.

On a twisty road

The Leaf sacrifices sportiness in the name of comfort and an easy driving experience, and it doesn’t take a lot of brisk driving to suss that out. The steering, while direct, doesn’t have much feel to it - neither do the pedals.

Still, there’s little in the way of body lean - less than you get in a Kia EV3 or Skoda Elroq, and especially in sport mode there’s brisk enough acceleration to make swift progress on a good road. You’ll have a better time if you take it easy, though.

Though it’s smaller than the old Leaf, the new model has plenty of room up front, but rear-seat passengers might feel cramped

Nissan has moved some bits of the electric system like the heat pump in front of the cabin, which means that front seat passengers gain space compared to the older, larger Leaf. There’s plenty of room and the seats have a good amount of adjustment, while the stepped-back dashboard design makes it feel even more airy than it is.

You get a pair of low-mounted cupholders in between the seats, while there’s a hidden storage cubby in the centre armrest and not one but two gloveboxes underneath the dashboard. The door bins are plenty big enough to take a large water bottle, but they’re not very long, so you won’t fit much else in there.

Space in the back

Things aren’t as capacious in the back, because the seats have been mounted low to the floor in order to buy you more head space with the sloping roofline. That means that you don’t get much under-thigh support (think knees-by-your-ears), and for all of that there still isn’t much headroom.

Nissan says that the swanky glass roof buys you some extra centimetres of real estate for your hair-do - which would be true if it extended back over your head, but it doesn’t, so you don’t.

Nonetheless the bench itself is comfortable, and while you won’t fit three adults in comfortably, two will be fine. The middle seat back folds down for an armrest/cupholder combo, while the door bins are large enough for water bottles, too.

Boot space

You’re most likely to cross-shop the Leaf against the Kia EV3 and Skoda Elroq, but unfortunately the boot is smaller than either alternative. While 437 litres is plenty for a small family, it’s still down on the EV3 (460 litres) and the Elroq (470 litres).

You get two small side trays for loose items either side of the main boot area, and if you keep the boot floor high up you can fit the charging cables and parcel shelf under there at the same time. The sloping roofline means that bulky items won’t fit in easily, even with the rear seats folded flat.

Upper-trim Leafs get excellent Google-based infotainment, but lower-spec cars do without the posh screen

Nissan is making some pretty good-looking cabins at the minute, and the Leaf is no different - albeit with a youthful twist compared to the posh Ariya and sturdy X-Trail. The dashboard wraps around you noticeably, and while it’s not as funky as a Peugeot 2008, it’s easy on the eye, especially in the blue/white colour combination.

A pair of 14.3-inch screens make up the infotainment and driver’s display combo plonked on top of the flat lower dashboard, which curves out towards you and your passenger - a bit like a breakfast bar. Entry-level models have a smaller central display instead.

You get a set of chunky buttons on the dashboard to choose gears, which look like an afterthought as they’re so square, while the climate controls are on a touch-sensitive bar tucked below the infotainment.

It’s easier to use than controls on the display, but still not as intuitive as physical switches when you’re on the move. There are some small shortcut buttons for music controls in between the central vents, too.

The Google-based infotainment system is excellent, frankly, and while it may not be as lightning-quick to your inputs as some of the latest Chinese cars, it’s very intuitive to use and the graphics are crisp. We didn’t even bother using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto on our test routes, because the onboard Google Maps shows up on both displays and it’s a piece of cake to operate. It’s just a shame that only the top two trim levels get this system.

The rest of the interior looks great, with funky fabrics on the upper dashboard and door tops, while the lower dashboard isn’t as soft to the touch as it looks. There are plenty of hard plastics on the lower door cards, centre console and under the dash, but that’s easily forgiven considering its alternatives are broadly the same.

The most basic Leafs get a 52kWh battery which offers a claimed 270 miles of range. If you do longer trips or want a little more peace of mind, there’s also a 72kWh battery option, good for 375 miles to a charge.

We managed to achieve an efficiency figure of 4.2mi/kWh in our testing on the Leaf’s launch in Copenhagen, but we’ll update this once we get our hands on one in the UK. Still, that means a real-world range of 302 miles, or 78% of the claimed figure. Not too shabby, considering most of our route was on B-roads and motorways, so that number should go up in town.

Nissan is anticipating the full £3,750 electric car grant which makes it an even more enticing proposition, but we’ll update this once full UK pricing is announced, too.

Being an EV, the Leaf falls into the lowest bracket of road tax, and most models will fall under the £40,000 threshold for the luxury vehicle tax, so you’ll avoid the hefty supplementary cost between years two-to-six. Company car drivers will face low Benefit-in-Kind payments, too, as it sits in the lowest BIK band.

The Nissan Leaf will be crash tested by Euro NCAP in 2026, but considering its mechanical similarities to the Nissan Ariya which scored five stars in 2022, it’s safe to assume that the Leaf will be just as safe.

You get a driver’s attention warning, adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist as standard, as well as a pair of ISOFIX points in the back seats.

The Leaf is too new for any real reliability information to have come out, but Nissan came 15th out of 31 manufacturers entered into the 2025 Driver Power survey for owner satisfaction. That’s almost bang-on in the middle, which is hardly confidence inspiring, but it’s worth noting that electric cars have few moving mechanical parts, which means less to go wrong than a petrol car.

You get a three-year, 100,000-mile warranty with the Leaf, while the battery is covered for eight years and the same mileage. The warranty, as with Lexus and Toyota, gets extended each year with regular main dealer servicing, but Nissan has yet to confirm how long that goes on for.