What is it?

No stranger to the market, the Nissan Leaf is one of the longest running EVs dating back to 2010. It’s been refreshed a few times over the past 14 years and the brand has just introduced a new variant, the Leaf Shiro providing both high value and attractive pricing.

Based on an N-Connecta grade, this new derivate also includes ProPILOT Assist, Nissan’s popular driver assist package, which is made up of Traffic Jam pilot, Intelligent Lane Keep Assist and an electronic parking brake. It offers synthetic leather trim with cloth inserts and is available with the 39kWh battery only.

Shiro is Japanese for white and accordingly comes with Arctic White paint as standard. This new variant is available with optional Spare Wheel Pack and two-tone paint (Storm White with a Pearl Black roof).

Staying true to the Leaf’s roots as the original affordable mass-market electric family car, the Shiro comes with over £1,000 worth of benefits for £28,495, £2,000 less than the N-Connecta on which it is based.

All Leaf retail and Motability customers will also benefit from a complimentary 3 year Zapmap Premium subscription with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay integration. Zapmap is the charge point mapping service which allows drivers to plan their routes with consideration of the vehicle’s charging requirements.

Never the prettiest of cars, but the latest styling has made the Leaf easy on the eye and through the range there are two powertrain set-ups: base models get a 39kWh battery that’s mated to a 148bhp front-mounted electric motor that provides a range of 170 miles. The Nissan Leaf e+ has a larger 62kWh battery for a much more agreeable range of up to 239 miles. Under the bonnet there is a 214bhp motor.

There are four trim levels, with the entry-level Shiro and Acenta specifications only available with the smaller 39kWh battery pack. Both powertrains are available in top-end N-Connecta and Tekna trim.

Unfortunately, unlike most newer electric cars, the Nissan Leaf still features an old-fashioned CHAdeMO charge port, rather than the now-industry standard CCS connector – we’ll explain the repercussions of this in the ‘Range, battery size & charging’ portion of our review. Regardless, a maximum charging speed of 50kW means a 10-80% top-up will take an hour at the minimum, with e+ models taking a further 30 minutes to charge up to this point.

What do we think?

In keeping with its conservative design, the Leaf’s interior is understated, steering clear of many of the bells and whistles that adorn many EVs these days. There’s a simple centre console and a set of part-digital dials. But then again, I’m from the school of less is more so happy with the traditional buttons and switches which control most functions although there is an eight-inch touch screen. The part-digital instrument cluster is easy to read and displays all the information you need.

The touchscreen is not too complicated and features Apple |CarPlay and Android Auto. The Japanese brand’s NissanConnect EV app is worth having, allowing you to check the car’s battery charge, remotely start the charging and set the air-conditioning. There’s also a location service to prevent you losing your car in the car park, and a route planner.

There’s also a good amount of safety-related tech such as ABS and ESP while every version also has Intelligent Emergency Braking, Lane Departure Warning and Lane keep assist. Also standard is Nissan’s Intelligent Trace Control and Intelligent Ride Control systems to automatically apply the brakes to keep the car on its cornering and uses a combination of the engine and brakes to prevent the car pitching up and down as you negotiate the potholes.

The Leaf comes is solely a five-door, five-seat car and one of its major pluses is the amount of interior space thanks to some very good packaging of the battery pack which is underneath where the passengers sit, so it doesn’t intrude into the cabin. It will comfortably seat four adults with good head and legroom back and front.

Add to this a huge boot which, at 435 litres, it’s much bigger than many rivals. If you need still more space you can fold down the rear seats, which are 60/40 split as standard on every model.

On the road, one useful tool in town is Nissan’s e-Pedal system, now fitted to every model. This allows you to drive using just one pedal. This basically brakes the car when you lift off the accelerator and you feel it instantly when you turn the system on – it’s not something you’ll want to use on the motorway, especially if you’re being tailgated.

The accelerator immediately has more resistance, forcing you to be firmer with your inputs to maintain rapid progress. Lift off, though, and the speed washes away bringing you virtually to a halt. It takes a bit of getting used to as the the braking is so strong that you find yourself stopping short of a junction or traffic lights.

Steering is light and ideal for urban driving while out on the open road you appreciate the quietness. Actually Nissan claims it’s 30% quieter than cars with traditional internal combustion engines.

Straight-line performance is more than adequate with a 0-62mph time of 7.9 seconds however the range of the Shiro we tried at 170 miles – although we couldn’t get it to charge much beyond 13o miles means this model is mostly directed at city drivers.

NISSAN LEAF SHIRO

• Price: £28,495
• Fuel type: Electric
• Range: 170 miles

• Max. speed: 90mph