Ian Lamming takes a leaf out of the EV market and drives the latest offering from Nissan
DEPENDING on your perspective Nissan is to blame or to thank for the electric revolution in motoring.
The debate may rage on about the veracity of electric vehicles in sustainable motoring but Nissan’s Leaf has been plying our roads for the past 14 years having become the world’s first mass produced EV.
Globally, 646,000 units have been sold to eco warriors and tax side-steppers. Is that a lot in almost one and a half decades, I’m not sure? Did it spark (see what I did there?) a revolution? Well, I’m not sure about that either.
Is the EV agenda being pushed by city-based bureaucrats who don’t even have to drive? Probably. Are EVs here to stay? In some form yes. You can even buy an electric Rolls Royce and a Lotus nowadays. But are they a panacea for our environmental transport ills. Nope, don’t think they are.
Despite the sands of time slipping merrily by there have only been two generations of Leaf and the latest, which emerged in 2018, has now spawned a sibling, the Shiro.
Modest in size, the Leaf remains big on innovation. You can even power your house with one should the electric supply go off this winter.
Shiro, which means white in Japanese and, guess what, it comes in white, is an affordable starter EV coming in at sub-30K despite having decent specification.
Leaf hasn’t really dated over the years and with black spoke alloys, that caught the eye of my partner, still looks relevant.
The £28k Shiro comes with ProPILOT Assist, Nissan's popular driver assist package, which features traffic jam pilot, intelligent lane keep assist and an electronic parking brake. You also get synthetic leather trim with cloth inserts but it is only available with the 39kWh battery.
The power is down then on the original GenII model which turned out 217hp. But you would never know. Leave it in normal and it feels like ‘sport’ as the Leaf is rapid away from the mark and in the mid-range for hill climbs and overtaking. Put it in eco to extend the range and the power drops off to eke out the miles. For the sake of the modest increase I think I prefer the extra oomph.
For a small family hatchback the driving sensation is surprisingly sporty. There may only be 150hp coming from the copper coils but the 320Nm torque figure from zero means the benchmark 60mph is a hot-hatch beating seven seconds. Top speed is a modest but still illegal 90mph but the faster you go the shorter the range.
Pootling around the rural roads the Leaf will last for 170 miles or so. Head on to the motorways, dual carriageways and even fast open A roads and that figure quickly drops to 140. Is that enough? For most people probably. For a battle hardened long distance commuter like me, no. But then if I was buying I’d go for the larger, rangier, Nissan Ariya anyway, so no problem.
Oh by the way Leaf Shiro is built in the UK, at Nissan's Sunderland plant, so is supporting local jobs and the British economy, which matters to many consumers, and so it should.
With so many years and miles under its belt I did think the latest Leaf might have moved on a bit more. It’s a hard car to fault but the competition in the EV market has never been so fierce – they have all taken a leaf out of Nissan’s book, so to speak – with some utterly amazing models to choose from.
I think by launching the Leaf Shiro Nissan is reminding us all just who started the EV ball rolling. There simply must be a GenIII waiting in the wings somewhere and I can’t wait to give it a go.
Fact file
Nissan Leaf Shiro
Engine: 39kWh electric
Power: 150PS, 320Nm torque
0-62mph: 7.9secs
Top speed: 90mph
Range: 168 miles (combined)
Transmission: auto, 2WD
CO2 g/km: 0
Price: from£28,495.00
