Nissan Leaf review

It's all very simple and straightforward if you fall into the Leaf’s own way of doing things: smooth, silent and serene. Try and drive it like a Golf GTI and of course it'll push back at you.

It isn’t cripplingly slow though. Up to about 50mph it has a definite spring in its step, and even at motorway speed there's enough acceleration that you don’t get pinned into the left-hand lane. It gives the impression it was always impatient to accelerate and was just waiting for you, by pressing the pedal, to allow it to do so.

In mixed driving we got 4.1mi\kWh without much effort; excellent efficiency that comes with having a comparatively small battery to the rest of the EV crowd. That number indicates 160 miles of real-world range, not far off what Nissan claims. Don't get carried away though: doing outside-lane speeds drives a coach and horses through that predicted distance.

Still, hooning isn't what this car is for. In normal driving, the silent exactness of its power is what endears it to you.

What’s this ‘e-Pedal’ thing I keep hearing about?

Nissan’s e-Pedal system means you get regenerative braking (and also some blended friction braking) that’s strong enough to stop the car just by lifting off the accelerator. It means you almost never have to use the brake pedal and it’s a surprisingly relaxing and simple way to drive. You sharpen up your anticipation skills, and that's quite fun in itself.

The e-Pedal's electronics take care of deciding when to bring in the friction brakes and, by separate calculation, when to illuminate the brake lights. It generally (unless the battery is full so can't take regen energy) will favour electric retardation over the brakes until very low speed. You need only use the actual brake pedal for events over 0.2g – which is a relief given how squidgy the pedal is. You still get a more usual Brake mode too if you don’t want maximum regen. 

What’s it like in the corners?

Flat, predictable, but not much fun. The Leaf sits stable on a motorway, but the steering feel is depressingly remote and the low-resistance tyres don't cling on very gamely. The damping is easily flustered.

The ride is a little jiggly, but it’s not as bad as the e+ model, which was 130kg heavier and had stiffened springs to cope with the extra heft. The absence of engine noise means you do notice the sound of tyres and wind, but those things are decently subdued and you don't have to turn up the stereo.

What about any active safety kit?

The top-rung Tekna and e+ Tekna versions both come with radar cruise control including lane following and traffic jam assist. Nissan calls the bundle ProPilot and makes rather a fuss of it. It's unusual in the hatch segment, but not unique, and bigger cars frequently have it. Like every other such system, the steering assist is easily caught out by things like repair lines in the road, or glare.

All trim levels get radar cruise, but without the steering function. Oh, and all Leafs also get radar sensors feeding cross-traffic assist for reversing, and blind-spot warning. Much more useful.