For The Nissan Leaf is easy, fun and comfortable to drive. It’s roomy enough for a family, and it costs peanuts to run.
Against The very nature of electric motoring (eight-hour charging time for a very limited range, which drops drastically in cold weather) means that the Leaf won't suit many people's lives.
The Nissan Leaf is fast, fun and comfortable, and the leasing option makes it more affordable. Just make sure you can live with the limited (and not always predicable) range.
It doesn't matter how much you like the idea of the Nissan Leaf – if it doesn't suit your life, it won't work for you. Why? Well, Nissan claims it has a maximum range of around 124 miles on a single charge, and from our experience of the car, you’d do very well to achieve that. We reckon it’s better to work to an absolute maximum of around 90 miles, and even then, we’ve observed that the range drops drastically in very cold weather. Recharging it from a normal domestic socket takes eight hours, and that’s provided you have somewhere convenient to charge it in the first place.
However, if you're a low-mileage driver whose journeys tend to be strictly regimented, the Leaf could pay some massive dividends. Firstly, there are no tailpipe emissions, which makes it exempt from road tax and the London Congestion Charge, and it’ll cost you peanuts to charge. It's good to drive, too.
I recently had a Leaf for 24 hours as part of Nissan's 'Big Turn On' campaign. It does look a little odd, a bit like a big Micra (that's not a…
There is no doubt that the Leaf is a great car. What Car's three stars miserly and Clarksonish. But there's no denying the limited range of the Leaf…