Nissan Leaf Visia: Test Drive Review

When Nissan revised the Leaf in late spring it opened up the range with a new £25,935 entry Visia model, and that’s before the Government’s £5000 grant towards low-emission vehicles.

Nissan has also made it even cheaper for fleets willing to lease the battery separately, cutting the upfront cost by another £5000, with an extra £70-£129 per month for the lease depending on mileage and timescale.

This entry model misses out on kit such as the telematics system with colour screen, reversing camera, auto lights and wipers, privacy glass and alloy wheels that come with the mid-spec Acenta for an extra £2500, but is an appealing entry for anyone keen on getting into an electric vehicle but put off by the cost. At 46.0p per mile, it at least takes the Leaf well into the realm of lower medium hatchbacks.

The revised Leaf’s range is up from 109 to 124 miles, and Nissan has also increased the boot space by moving the charging equipment, and the interior is improved too.

The Leaf was the first serious electric vehicle and is still impressively unremarkable to drive in terms of not feeling exceptionally different from an automatic petrol model. The car is now better than ever, both in terms of the 100 individual improvements with the latest version, and more importantly in moving the costs case towards making a valid stand-alone argument for electric vehicles.