Nissan Leaf review

From £28,495

Nissan's game-changing EV becomes an SUV on a shared platform for its third era

The new Nissan Leaf feels like a milestone: it’s the first mainstream mass-market EV to reach a third generation. Although that really depends on how you define such things.

To all intents and purposes, the new Leaf is an entirely new model with a new remit. The only thing it has in common with its pioneering predecessors is a name.

The original Leaf arrived in 2010 with a 124-mile range and a whole load of novelty about whether a car powered by batteries could actually find mainstream buyers. The Mk2 followed that up in 2018 with a range of up to 239 miles, but both benefitted from having very little (if any) competition. 

The Nissan Leaf of 2025 isn’t so lucky. This new model must take on the Volkswagen ID 3, Kia EV4, Cupra Born and MG 4 EV, to name but a few. 

So, the Leaf can’t just be ‘the original’ any more. It has to be the best of its breed if it’s to hold its own and gain back its popularity among the electric family car class. 

As such, Nissan has given it two battery options for a range of up to 271 or 375 miles from either a 52 or 75kWh battery. It’s also got a pretty cool retro-modern design and, despite a slightly SUV-ish stance, good official efficiency figures. 

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DESIGN & STYLING

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Fifteen years after being launched, the Leaf is as unrecognisable compared with its predecessors. For this third generation it has grown substantially, to 4.35 metres long, and is now firmly a crossover – albeit a very sleek one – rather than a hatchback. 

That shift in size helps make way for the new Renault-built Nissan Micra supermini but is also designed to position the new Leaf as the primary car of a household.

It looks distinctive from most other cars in the class, especially from the back, thanks to the intriguingly retro black panel and ducktail combo.
Vicky Parrott

The Leaf now sits on the same platform as the larger Nissan Ariya SUV and has a strong family resemblance to that model: it’s determinedly less frumpy than the Leafs of old.

That’s in part because of the brief the development team was set, described by chief vehicle engineer Hiroki Isobe as “efficiency, efficiency, efficiency”.

Plenty of sleek aerodynamic elements help the new body to achieve that improved drag coefficient of 0.25 (the Mk2 Leaf’s was 0.28) and thereby maximise range, and there’s now a bespoke heat pump for the heating system.

The 3D light signature is very cool, too. You will notice that shape – two lines and then three parallel lines next to it – all over the Leaf. This is because the words for two and three in Japanese are ‘ni’ and ‘san’. Get it? You can see why Nissan decided that a symbol representing the numbers two and three would make a cute design cue. 

INTERIOR

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The Leaf’s cabin is a pleasant place to be. You sit lower than in a conventional SUV rival like the Skoda Elroq but a touch higher than you do in the MG 4, for instance. 

Some might find the slightly shiny vinyl finish around the dashboard a little cheap-feeling, but the contrasting textile inserts are tactile and look really nice, and the slim-rimmed, two-spoke steering wheel is nice to use too.   

Aerodynamics have been prioritised over visibility, so your view out to the back is through a small letterbox of a rear window.
Vicky Parrott

The dashboard’s twin 14.3in screens are crisp and clear, and there are useful physical buttons for key functions – including changing the climate control temperature. Praise be! 

Sure, it’s a more traditional dash layout than the Ariya’s, but in terms of practicality that’s not a bad thing at all.

The gear selection buttons on the dash are a bit old-fashioned and not as swift to respond nor as intuitive to use as a gearshifter on a stalk, but it’s a small niggle. 

Practicality is okay but a way off class-leading. Taller rear passengers will find head room a bit tight if you’ve specced the panoramic glass roof (which has been on all of the test cars we’ve driven), and while legr oom is very good, it’s not quite as generous as it is in the Kia EV4, for instance. 

Boot capacity in the Leaf is a healthy 437 litres, and you get a split variable floor that’s good for hiding your charging cables – or you can use it to separate the boot space so that your groceries don’t roll around. But the load lip is quite high, and there are no sliding seats or clever packaging tricks, just the usual 60/40-split rear seats. 

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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With the biggest 75kWh (usable) battery fitted, the Leaf has an official range of 375 miles. But the main focus has been on offering real-world range at speed, and indeed Nissan claims it can cover more than 200 miles at an 80mph cruise.

When you do reach your destination, it will charge at up to 150kW via – gasp! – a CCS plug. At which time, can we all please spare a moment to remember Chademo, forever the Betamax of EV charging?

There’s MacPherson-strut suspension up front and a multi-link arrangement at the rear, while wheel sizes range from 18in to 19in.
Vicky Parrott

Anyway, on the road the Leaf is very calm and quiet, and just… pleasant. Mechanically, it has a new ‘three-in-one’ electric motor (meaning it combines the inverter, motor and reducer into a single package) that sends up to 214bhp and 261lb ft of torque to the front wheels for a 0-62mph time of 7.6sec. The 52kWh car gets a bit less, at 174bhp and 254lb ft for a 0-62mph time of 8.6sec. 

The power delivery feels linear and smooth: it’s not an EV for showing off with dramatic acceleration, but it has strong pick-up, as you would expect. 

Provided it's not in Eco mode, anyway, as therein throttle response is neutered to the point of being alarmingly unresponsive at times. In the less restrictive modes, there’s a perfectly decent level of response and ease of modulation.

The Mk2 Leaf’s one-pedal mode returns, plus there’s now adjustable brake regen controlled by paddles on the steering wheel. They work well, and having the more variable regen modes is always a welcome feature in an EV.

RIDE & HANDLING

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Nissan says the Leaf has been set up for a comfortable ride in order to better fit its family car brief. We would say it has hit that brief, judging by our high-spec test car on Hankook rubber and 19in alloy wheels. 

The suspension is a bit noisy over scruffy town roads, but the bump absorption is good enough to keep things feeling fairly serene even on very patched up surfaces.

It does the everyday stuff smoothly and calmly, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Vicky Parrott

That soft set-up does mean a fair amount of body lean, but it’s progressive and controlled enough to not make your kids feel sick. 

The steering is rather nice, helped by a slim steering wheel that allows a bit of texture and feedback from the road surface. It’s predictable and gives enough bite to feel satisfying in faster stuff, although you’re never going to confuse the Leaf with something that’s designed to thrill. 

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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Nissan hasn’t confirmed pricing, yet, but we do know that the Leaf will be competitive with rivals like the ID 3 and EV4, so we expect a starting price of around £34,000, with the big-battery model coming in at around £40,000. 

Equipment levels will be generous, too; expect vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality across the range, that touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and over-the-air software updates. 

Higher-spec models will include the panoramic glass roof as standard. Top-spec cars will even get speakers in the driver’s headrest to announce sat-nav guidance without disturbing your passengers.
Vicky Parrott

A three-year/60,000-mile vehicle warranty has been par for the course for many decades with new cars, but is also beginning to look underwhelming next to the much longer warranties offered by Kia, Hyundai, MG and Toyota. The battery is covered for the usual eight years or 100,000 miles.

VERDICT

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The Leaf is a peculiarly charming car. It has styling that’s quirky enough from certain angles to look almost retro and, thankfully, it feels very much like a ‘proper Nissan’ compared with the Renault Megane that shares its platform and that is one of its many rivals. 

Does it feel like a technical marvel or a game-changer? Not really. And given that the Mk1 Leaf is the godfather of the modern EV, maybe that’s a bit disappointing. 

Ultimately, the Leaf feels like a worthy, likeable and very fit-for-purpose family EV.
Vicky Parrott

Is it lacking a USP? Actually, no – not if you value the fact that it’s built in Britain, which is a hugely persuasive fact for lots of good reasons. 

Is all of this enough to make the new Leaf a success in such a competitive arena? We will only know once sales have started.  

Vicky Parrott

Vicky Parrott

Vicky Parrott has been a motoring journalist since 2006, when she eventually did so much work experience at Autocar that it felt obliged to give her a job.

After that, she spent seven years as a features and news writer, video presenter and road tester for Autocar, before becoming deputy road test editor for What Car? in 2013. After five years with What Car?, Vicky spent a couple of years as associate editor of DrivingElectric and then embarked on a freelance career that has seen her return to writing for Autocar and What Car? as well as for The Daily Telegraph and many others.

Vicky has been a Car of the Year juror since 2020, and the proud owner of a 1992 Mercedes-Benz 300-SL 24V since 2017. She aspires to own an Alpine A110 and a Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo.