We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
THE NISSAN LEAF is the best selling electric vehicle (EV) in the world. But is it a practical family hatchback? And is it really that much cheaper to run than a similar sized petrol or diesel powered car?
In terms of space the Leaf is every bit as roomy and practical as other popular hatchbacks and the boot is a generous 370 litres with all seats in place. It has plenty of safety features, scored a full five-stars in the EuroNCAP safety tests and there is a decent amount of kit as standard.
So it compares well to most other five-door hatches.
It feels nippy around town and even on the motorway it is quite capable. It is a little dull to drive – but what the Leaf lacks in engagement it makes up for in refinement. The powertrain is near silent and road and wind noise are well dampened, making this one smooth and relaxing car to drive.
What about the range?
If you do long motorway commutes of 120km or more the Leaf may not be ideal unless you want to spend up to 40 minutes, possibly more, charging up every 100km or so.
However, if you get a home charger installed, live near a charging point or have access to a charging point at work then perhaps the Leaf will work for you. It takes about eight hours using a home charger to charge from empty to full.
Officially the NEDC test puts the Leaf’s one-charge range at 250km. I managed to do 130km with 36km (16%) range left before the anxiety hit and I had to plug in.
However, the range fluctuates as the Leaf has a handy regenerative braking system which helps charge up the battery when you brake. Using this function down seven kilometres of steep road I increased the remaining range from 24km to 45km. Once you adapt your driving style you’ll get a better range in between charges.
Will you save any money?
The 30kWh Leaf starts at €24,490. It’s €120 a year to tax. On average it will cost €220 a year to charge up at home using the ESB night rate. However, currently the ESB public charge points are free to use. So, technically, you can charge your car up for free.
As a comparison the most economical five-door Ford Focus hatch costs €23,640 and €180 a year to tax and has an economy figure of 3.8 litres/100km. Annual mileage in Ireland is roughly 17,000km, which would cost about €825 in fuel a year.
Using just these figures, to buy and run a Ford Focus for eight years will cost roughly €31,680. To buy and run a Leaf for eight years will cost roughly €27,210, or €25,450 if you use the free chargers. That’s a difference of somewhere between €4,470 and €6,230.
Also, there are fewer moving parts in the Leaf – no clutch, timing belt or gearbox, no motor oil required and maintenance costs are lower too, so you will most likely save even more. The 30kWh battery comes with an eight year / 160,000km warranty and a five year /100,000km warranty against capacity loss of more than 25%.
However, do bear in mind that while the batteries should be good for at least ten years, diesel and petrol cars can run for twice that if not more (although fuel economy does wane as engines get older).
I test drove the 30kWh Leaf in and around Dublin and Wicklow for one week and covered 205km. I topped up once using a fast charger in a petrol station. It took 40 minutes to go from 16% battery to 86% and it only cost me the price of a cup of terrible coffee.
For my needs and weekly urban mileage with a longer drive once or twice a week, the Nissan Leaf is perfect. I love how cheap it is to run. I love how quite it is. I love how quick it is and I love how smug and righteous I feel when driving it.
Now that there are over 1,200 public charge points across the country with more being installed owning an EV is a much more realistic option for many people and if you are one of the many people considering an EV the Leaf is still the one to choose if you are after a practical family car.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say