Nissan LEAF 2017 Review - International

If you're expecting the new Nissan LEAF to provide a Tesla-style experience in a compact, affordable package, here's where we let you down gently...

Yes, Nissan's proven electric family hatchback is improved from its first generation, but in reality this is not LEAF v2.0, it's more like LEAF v1.5. For while Nissan claims significant improvements in range and at last has entered the technology age in terms of CarPlay smart phone integration (the first Nissan to do so), the new-look LEAF boasts a fair swag of first-gen architecture and powertrain.

That translates to reasonably workman-like chassis dynamics and less than cutting edge autonomous performance. Inside there's a re-style but plenty of hard plastic and, frankly some glaring omissions in a ‘new' car – like a reach adjustable steering wheel.

I guess the good news is this: what you see is what you get. Unlike the vehicles from that darling company of the tech-set, the LEAF is otherwise reasonably polished and complete. Nissan might be gilding the lily in pronouncing the LEAF as all-new but at least it isn't experimenting on paying customers in terms of iterative product development.

Yokohama bound
Our first test drive of the LEAF was in Nissan's hometown of Yokohama. It was a very short sampling of the car the company claims is the world's top-selling electric production car. Since release in 2010, around 300,000 LEAFs have been sold in markets that span the globe.

Just 11km behind the wheel is far from even a quick spin – it's barely a taste test. While our car's instruments indicated in excess of 310km range when we started the drive, we have no way of vouching for the real world range of the new LEAF. Nissan's claimed 400km seems a stretch but when was the last time you achieved the 'advertised' range in a conventionally powered car.

And range is still the burning issue in most buyers' minds when it comes to electric vehicles. Nissan made much of the fact that it has revised the design of the LEAF's battery pack and can now cram twice as many cells into the same space.

Twice as many cells delivers, you guessed it, approaching twice as many kilometres (from theoretical 250 to 400km). If we can achieve 300km in the real world, when the LEAF arrives Down Under late in 2018, that will be good news for buyers. It takes the mass-market EV from toy to tool.

Higher energy density also opens the door to more performance. And indeed, as well as improving the range of the new vehicle, Nissan claims improved performance. Thanks to a smarter inverter (the tech that changes the stored electricity into the voltage and amperage required by the DC motor) the new EV's motor can now produce 110kW — 38 per cent more than the first-generation LEAF.

The 26 per cent improvement in torque (now 320Nm) is the joy, however, and the new car seems to have plenty with which to play...

Nissan won't confirm acceleration times but says they are "improved". In the urban 0-60km/h jump from the lights, it certainly seems muscular. Even from 110km/h on the Shutoko Expressway southwards out of Yokohama, there seemed to be decent urge available.

Indeed, this eagerness was a target of the LEAF's development team. Development team leader Hiroki Isobe told motoring.com.au that one of the key attributes the Nissan squad wanted to imbue in the new car was a responsive powertrain. This, he says, is the opposite strategy to some of Nissan's competitors.

ProPILOT not so pro
Another pillar of the LEAF story is autonomous functionality. Alas, here the car trips at the first hurdle.

Nissan dubs its autonomous technology ProPILOT and claims the basic level of infrastructure the LEAF possesses as "highway single lane" autonomy. In reality, the LEAF gets what most brands would categorise simply as adaptive cruise and lane-keeping assist.

In practice, while the adaptive cruise is fine, the LEAF's auto steering is far from hands free and struggled to keep the early production LEAFs we drove in their lanes on perfectly marked and surfaced Japanese roads. The number of chimes and warnings it delivered was enough to drive you spare! I fear it will be next to useless on our third-world infrastructure.

Vehicles like the new Mercedes E-Class have vastly superior performance in this arena. Yes, I know that's a much more expensive vehicle, but the same tech will also be available in the new A-Class – a car that will be much closer to the LEAF in price.

The LEAF's other new tech, e-Pedal is much more accomplished and works as advertised.

Essentially, this system (which can be turned off) delivers around 0.2g of retardation once you release the accelerator. It does so by engaging brake regeneration on all four wheels (the Gen1 LEAF has re-gen on the fronts only).

Nissan estimates that 90 per cent of normal stops will be delivered solely using e-Pedal. I think it may have delivered even more than that in our short drive.

The new LEAF also features Nissan's ProPILOT Park, an automated parking technology that manages not only the steering effort as in most systems but will also take over acceleration, braking and transmission functions to navigate the car into a parking spot.

The system is supported by four high-resolution cameras and 12 ultrasonic sensors positioned around the car, working with advanced image processing technology to manage various parking manoeuvres, including angle and parallel parking.

New look, new personality
Perhaps the winningest aspects of the new LEAF are its looks and packaging.

The blue roof/white and black roof/yellow colour combos offered as part of the new palette really show off the LEAF's new lines. It is a handsome modern hatch in the metal and is also larger than you might guess.

The styling is derived from Nissan's 2015 IDS Concept (which was on hand at Nissan's HQ in Yokohama) and it's a reasonably faithful interpretation.

The new LEAF is a proper five-seater and there's extra space gifted by the fact you sit a little more upright in this generation of car. I wouldn't say it's SUV-like but there is the impression that the H-point (your seated hip height) is elevated from the run of the mill hatch.

The interior design is fresh and modern. The LEAF doesn't shine in terms of interior quality however. Let's hope by the time the car arrives in Oz some of the hard plastic that abounds has been covered.

Of course, the new LEAF is smooth and quiet. Nissan's new 'Canto' theme music is not installed in the car (yet) so the soundtrack is still more Jetsons than CobraJet.

Quickly away from the lights, the steering was noticeably firmer than the older LEAF's but don't expect much in the way of feel. The ride too was firm on the Japanese-spec cars we drove.

I can't tell you how the car goes around corners. The only critique of the chassis possible during my short drive related to the car's balance, which seems to be mismatched in terms of bump response front to rear. This created an unpleasant 'pitching' sensation. It's something we'll check for when the LEAF is driven on local roads.

Wind and road/tyre noise were both well damped. This is important in an EV as there is little powertrain noise to cover for poor refinement.

Compared to some alternative-power vehicles the LEAF definitely wins out in luggage space. Luggage capacity has been increased (now 435 litres says Nissan) and looks at least on par with similar conventional vehicles. There are no concessions required in this regard for your electric dream, it seems.

Tech gets a tweak
There's no shortage of safety tech in the new car. Notwithstanding we weren't impressed with ProPILOT, the LEAF is equipped to keep you safe. Expected to be standard in all Aussie models is Nissan Safety Shield which packs intelligent lane intervention, lane departure warning, autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition, rear cross-traffic alert and a 360-degree camera into the five-door.

Nissan offers a video rear vision mirror in the Japanese market LEAF. The unit synthesises an ultra-wide view from multiple cameras and frankly takes some getting used to... It's another aspect I'd like to try on local roads before I proclaim it a plus or minus.

NissanConnect enables "intelligent charging" of the LEAF and eventually the addition of wireless charging. For the time being, perhaps the smartest part of the LEAF is its V2H (vehicle to home) systems.

These allow the LEAF to operate as a stationary power source, absorbing (say) excess solar power during the day to then feed it back, to power the home in the evening. Owners could even power the LEAF with off-peak electricity and then use that electricity to power their home during the day.

As noted above, LEAF is the first Nissan to get CarPlay and Nissan is building a high-function smartphone app via which a swag of functions will be available. Even now the LEAF app allows drivers to check the vehicle's charge status, locate free charging bays, schedule optimum charging times and pre-heat or cool the car.

Charge times vary. Nissan is pioneering 50kW and 100kW fast charge systems in Japan that promise 80% recharges in the time it takes to get a cuppa. At home charging on a 3kW system will take 16 hours. Double the electric input and you halve that 100% charge to overnight (eight hours).

How much and when
They are the big questions. When, is late 2018 at this stage. How much is a bigger hurdle – Nissan Australia says it's not even close to announcing local pricing and specifications.

If we had to guess we'd suggest that while Nissan would love LEAF to arrive with a price-tag under $40,000, the likelihood is it may be closer to $50,000.

And therein lies the rub... Without government incentives, as mainstream as some of its aspects may be, the LEAF will still be a niche player.