The Nissan Leaf is sized to compete with the likes of the Ford Focus and the Volkswagen Golf– so use those as a yardstick for how much room there is inside. There’s a reasonable amount of headroom (depending on how high you like your seat) and there’s plenty of glass, which makes the cabin feel quite airy.
There’s slightly more space in the rear than you’d get in a Focus or a Golf, due to the flat floor. As the Leaf is an EV, there’s no need for a hump between the seats to make space for the exhaust system. That liberates a little more foot room for rear seat passengers and allows three to sit on the bench in relative comfort.
Boot space and storage
The Nissan Leaf’s boot is very impressive. There’s 435 litres of space with the rear seats in place, which is a huge amount for an electric car. It’s also slightly more than you got in the previous-generation Leaf (which is based on the same platform), as Nissan’s engineers repositioned some of the car’s charging electronics to make the boot wider.
The boot floor is also quite deep, which means you need to haul items up and over the rear bumper to get them in the boot – but it’s a small price to pay for the space on offer. The centre console has plenty of cubbies for your odds and ends, while the front door bins have pockets big enough for large water bottles.
It’s not perfect, though. Nissan had to make space in the Leaf’s chassis for the battery pack, which means you don’t get a completely flat load floor when you fold the rear seats down. Storage space increases to 1,176 litres with the bench stowed, which is 91 litres less than you get in the Volkswagen ID.3.
However, unless you regularly use your car to transport washing machines, you’ll hardly notice the difference. It’s also worth noting that the Bose subwoofer in the range-topping Tekna variant robs some boot space.
Relatively easy, actually. The glasshouse is quite wide, which means it’s easy to see what’s around you if you like to park the old fashioned way. The cheapest Leaf Acenta also comes as standard with a helpful rear-view camera for some added assistance – although you don’t get parking sensors.
This is remedied if you opt for the more expensive N-Connecta variant, which comes with front and rear parking sensors and a 360-degree parking camera. Range-topping Tekna models can also be specified with Nissan’s ProPilot Park system, which can automatically steer the Leaf into both end-on and parallel parking spaces.
Safety
Five-star Euro NCAP safety rating
Autonomous Emergency Braking as standard
Optional ProPilot semi-autonomous driving mode
The Leaf was last crash tested by Euro NCAP in 2018. It achieved an overall rating of five stars overall and scored an admirable 93% in the adult occupant protection category. The testers were particularly impressed by the Leaf’s performance in rear-end collisions, noting how the headrests were good at preventing whiplash.
Nissan’s autonomous emergency braking system with pedestrian detection was also noted for its good performance at city speeds. The AEB system is supported by a wealth of other standard safety equipment that includes six airbags, two pairs of Isofix points on the rear bench, lane-departure warning, blindspot monitoring, hill-start assist and cross-traffic alert.
Range-topping Tekna cars also come as standard with Nissan’s ProPilot driver assistance system, which combines active cruise control and lane-keeping assist. It’s designed to make driving easier on the motorway, and can deal with stop-start traffic almost autonomously while also keeping you safely in your lane.
However, Nissan stresses that it’s only an assistance system – so if your hands leave the steering wheel for more than 10 seconds it will sound an alarm. Several manufacturers offer more sophisticated systems these days, but the Leaf’s ProPilot setup does at least seem to work consistently well.
Watch the Nissan Leaf’s Euro NCAP crash test video
Basic equipment
The basic equipment list includes equipment that is standard across all versions of the Nissan Leaf Hatchback.
3x3 point rear seat belts
Alarm
Driver`s airbag
Folding rear seats
Front electric windows
Height adjustable drivers seat
PAS
Passenger`s airbag
Rear electric windows
Remote locking
Side airbags
Steering wheel rake adjustment
Traction control
Equipment by trim level
To view equipment options for a specific trim level, please select from the following list:
The Nissan Leaf Hatchback was tested by Euro NCAP in 2018 and was awarded a 5 star overall rating.
This overall rating is calculated from the following individual ratings:
Euro NCAP provides motoring consumers with a realistic and independent assessment of the safety performance of some of the most popular cars sold in Europe.
The safety ratings are determined from a series of vehicle tests, designed and carried out by Euro NCAP.
These tests represent, in a simplified way, important real life accident scenarios that could result in injured or killed car occupants or other road users.
