Nissan Leaf 2017 first drive

The Nissan Leaf is a world leader in terms of electric vehicle sales. A global total of 280,000 of Nissan's 'Leading Electric Affordable Family' cars have amassed 3.5 billion miles of mileage between them since the model first went on sale in 2011.

You’ve probably seen the new second-generation Leaf; it’s got the sharp looks of the IDS concept seen at the 2015 Tokyo motor show, a range of 235 miles, and technology upgrades which include the ability to drive semi-autonomously in a single motorway lane (although this feature is dependant on which specification you choose). 

What we have here - here being on a drive event ahead of the Tokyo motor show, on a strip of public road near Nissan’s global headquarters in Yokohama - is the Japanese-spec Leaf Mk2, now in production form, following on from our test of a prototype in September.

Our test car is different to what we’ll get in the UK. The suspension will be stiffer on the UK car, the e-Pedal smart regenerative braking system gentler, the dashboard more Nissan Micra-like, and it won’t get a rear-view camera and display in the rearview mirror. 

The UK-specification car will benefit from that upgraded dashboard from the Micra because the interior of the Leaf isn’t exactly inspiring in Japanese spec. There’s a lot of grey plastic.

The e-Pedal in the Japanese-spec car is a little aggressive and Nissan expects UK customers to prefer a gentler deceleration when easing off the throttle. Nissan couldn’t say by how much it’ll be reined in, but there’ll be less head-bobbing from passengers when the driver’s foot comes off the accelerator. When you're on the accelerator, this new Leaf has got a real lump of torque to fire it down the road – 20% more than before, in fact, at 236lb ft. 148bhp of power gives a rather pedestrian top speed of 89mph, but that's of little concern to the average Leaf driver.

Stiffer suspension might not be such a welcome tweak for the UK, though. The Leaf is slightly firm already. Bumpier surfaces make themselves known at low speeds, with a little more shake than you’d hope. Nissan promises that cornering ability will be improved, although there’s nothing noticeably wrong with that. From first impressions at least, it doesn’t need it. 

Although the new car is slightly squatter than the first-generation Leaf, headroom inside is excellent – unexpectedly so for the rakish-looking hatch – although its exterior dimensions make it almost as wide as the Ford Focus, and larger than one in every other direction.