Nissan LEAF 2019 Review

So let’s start with the price of the new Nissan LEAF. At $49,990 before on-road costs it’s cheap for an EV, undercutting the original LEAF by $1510.

At the same time the lithium-ion battery’s capacity has almost doubled to 40kWh (up from 22kWh), its range has more than doubled from a real-world 130km to about 270km (according to the pretty reliable WLTP standard), and its outputs have increased -- from 80kW of power to 110kW, and 280Nm of torque to 320Nm.

Kerb weight has been hacked, from 1795kg to 1594kg, although that’s still porky for what is essentially a moderately-sized five-door hatchback.

And in the context of that type of vehicle the Nissan LEAF is still expensive, even though the price -- with inflation taken into account -- has come down appreciably while so many other key performance indicators have improved.

A Toyota Corolla hybrid can be had for $25,870, a top-spec bells-and-whistles 2.5-litre Mazda3 for $36,990 and an all-wheel drive Mercedes-Benz A-Class for $49,500 (all plus on-roads of course).

So the LEAF doesn’t have price equivalency against Nissan’s usual competitors when they are powered by internal combustion engines (ICE). Instead it’s up there with the premium brands. Good luck with that.

Against other EVs it is more competitive. The Hyundai IONIQ Electric five-door hatch starts cheaper but doesn’t have the same battery capacity or range – although there is an update due in the market that will close all three gaps.

The Hyundai Kona Electric SUV is more expensive and has more range thanks to its 64kWh battery. The Renault ZOE is competitive with the LEAF on price and range but is smaller in size.

Nissan lobs all sorts of extras at the value argument. Think about all the petrol money you’ll save recharging on off-peak electricity – or better yet solar power.

And what about LEAF’s bidirectional charging capability? You can plug your Nissan LEAF into the grid and power your house. Well, you actually can’t, at least not yet. Nissan’s spruiking this feature hard, but it’s maybe 12 months away from local introduction and when it does arrive it will be expensive.

Bottom line? The Nissan LEAF isn’t a bargain buy because most car buyers don’t have the budget or patience to slowly recoup an over-the-odds initial outlay.

But as long as power is being drawn from a green source the LEAF is friendlier to the environment than an orthodox ICE vehicle. That’s why it’s a good buy.

So for your $50K-plus once you get it on the road, the Nissan LEAF has a decent rather than outstanding equipment list.

Nissan’s ProPilot semi-autonomous system didn’t make it into the UK-built Aussie-spec LEAF, but we do get a bunch of driver-assist systems including autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, an around-view monitor with moving object detection, blind-spot and lane departure warning, rear cross-traffic alert, lane intervention and driver alert and traffic sign recognition.

There’s a 2018-spec five-star ANCAP safety rating, tyre pressure monitoring and a wooh-woohing sort of noise to warn smartphone-addled pedestrians the LEAF is sneaking up on them.

In terms of features there’s single-zone climate control, radar cruise control, leather/suede seat trim, heated seats, a heated steering wheel, sat-nav with traffic monitoring and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

There’s no reach adjust for the steering wheel and there is a foot parking brake, which all seems very 20th century. Most of the dashboard area is hard to the touch as well, which isn’t appropriate for a car of this price no matter the power system.

The Nissan LEAF comes with a five-year warranty and the battery pack gets a separate eight-year warranty. Service intervals are 12 months/20,000km and capped pricing over four years comes out at $1131.

So how long you can expect to be stationary while recharging?

From empty to full will take you up to 24 hours via a standard 10-amp wall socket. That reduces to 7.5 hours combining the 6.6kW onboard AC charger and a 32-amp wallbox. Nissan Australia’s partner Jetcharge can install one for you for under $2000.

Things start to speed up dramatically when the Nissan LEAF is hooked up to a DC fast-charger. With its 50kWh onboard charger working at max efficiency, the LEAF can be recharged from empty to 80 per cent in 60 minutes. The Chargefox network provides discounted recharge rates for LEAF owners.

Even fast-charging still takes a lot longer than refuelling an ICE. And even though there are significant plans for recharging infrastructure growth you do have to plan ahead to plug-in.

But the good news is the Nissan LEAF does appear to have acceptable real-world range. On a 92km test drive that took in country roads, freeway and city streets, the LEAF started with a claimed range of 249km and finished at 142km, so that number dropped by 107km. That’s fairly accurate then.

But charge percentage dropped from 98 to 50 per cent. So it’s safe to say we still had about 80km of range. That adds up to about 180km which is well shy of the 270km WLTP claim, but we drove the LEAF without sympathy and with the air-con, seat and steering wheel heating on.

On the flipside, e-Pedal regenerative braking was also engaged, so power was being returned to the battery. That really slowed down consumption once we got into stop-start traffic.

So if you’re a commuter travelling 30-40km a day and you’ve got your charging options sorted the LEAF should work for you.

Longer journeys? Better drag out your V8 Patrol.

While EVs have an image of being the preferred choice of tofu-munching beardies who hate cars, the reality is they are good to drive.

The LEAF’s AC synchronous motor delivers max torque from tip-in throttle, so there’s no shortage of acceleration for traffic light grands prix. Nissan claims 100km/h comes up in 7.9 secs and that’s believable.

It will chirp and spin the front wheels if you tromp the throttle hard, which is a bit unedifying and suggests it could use some form of eLSD.

Higher up in the speed range it will start to run out of puff, but we’re talking well north of 100km/h so that’s no concern at all.

The heavy battery pack sits low in the chassis, improving the centre of gravity, which means the LEAF handles very neatly.

Combine that with significantly more accurate steering compared to the first generation and you’ve got a responsive drive that can cope competently with a winding road as well as a carpark.

That battery pack positioning does mean you sit a bit higher than in an orthodox small car. It’s not truck-like, but it’s raised enough to be noticeable.

In the rear passengers are raised even higher and sit very upright. Headroom is a bit tight for those over 180cm, but knee and legroom is acceptable. Two adults fit in the rear without too much elbow interaction.

The battery pack’s other obvious influence is on ride quality. Being so heavy the Nissan LEAF can crash into potholes and other nasty corruptions. But Nissan has done a pretty impressive job keeping passengers comfortable most of the time.

And, of course, the LEAF is quieter than an ICE vehicle. Sure there is some road and wind noise, but that is only more noticeable because all that mechanical thrashing has gone missing.

There are some idiosyncrasies EV first-timers will take some time to adjust to. The wobbly gear, erm, blob selects drive, reverse, neutral and park. With only a single reduction gear there’s no need for any more than that.

If you want to simulate changing gears then have a crack at e-Pedal, although it’s not actually a pedal it’s a button. Turn it on and regenerative drag increases substantially, turn it off and LEAF rolls more freely – at the expense of more power consumption.

Nissan extols e-Pedal as an enthusiast driver’s aid on winding roads, providing added ‘engine’ braking into corners. Yeah, nice try, but it just doesn’t kick in strong enough for that.

Nissan boffins – and marketing people – should go and drive the Hyundai’s similar system, which has three stages and is operated via flappy paddles on the steering wheel. That’s how it should be done.

If you want to really dull performance then hit the ‘Eco’ button. Things get very beige very quickly.

Otherwise, the Nissan LEAF is pretty orthodox. It’s got clear and comprehensive instrumentation, a decent amount of interior storage and the boot offers up 405 litres of space. There’s even a split-fold function that expands that to 1176 litres.

The Nissan LEAF is headed in the right direction. What was a commendable oddity seven years ago has improved in just about every measurable way.

So it’s incredibly frustrating to drive the LEAF, recognise its virtues and then have to grapple with its price.

Nissan can run the line about the overall long-term value LEAF represents, but if you don’t have $50,000 or more to spend on a new car then it won’t be on your shopping list.

If Australia had a cohesive national climate action plan maybe incentives or subsidies for EVs would be part of that and the Nissan LEAF and its ilk would be more accessible to more people.

But we don’t and we are unlikely to. Maybe in another seven years…

How much does the 2019 Nissan LEAF cost?
Price: $49,990 (plus on-road costs)
Motor: AC synchronous electric
Output: 110kW/320Nm (auto)
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 40kWh laminated lithium-ion
Range: 270km (WLTP)
Electricity: 17.1kWh/100km (ADR)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2018)