Interior room matches most mainstream family hatchbacks
Boot space is impressive compared with PHEV rivals
Interior feels airy and is pleasant to spend time in
How big is it inside?
The Nissan Leaf is a classically-sized medium hatchback in the mould of a Volkswagen Golf or Ford Focus, and its accommodation largely mirrors these cars. Headroom is okay given how high you sit, and the interior feels reasonably airy. The rear of the cabin is helped by having a flat foor (no there's no hump between the seats where the exahust would go on a petrol or diesel car), meaning there's plenty of foot room for three across the rear seat.
There’s room for five adults, though the middle rear passenger gets a poor deal compared with those sat either side of them. Up front, there's decent leg and headroom and the seat has plenty of adjustment for even the tallest of drivers and front-seat passengers.
The Nissan Leaf’s boot is very impressive, with 435 litres of space with the rear seats in place – a huge amount for an electric car. It’s also actually slightly more than the previous version (which is based on the same platform) thanks to the repositioning of some of the charging electronics, which has allowed it to be made wider.
Sadly, the need to accommodate all those batteries means you still don’t get a flat load floor when you fold the rear seats down.
Nissan Leaf safety
Full five-star rating in more rigorous Euro NCAP tests
Autonomous Emergency Braking as standard
ProPilot is fancy but not essential
When tested by Euro NCAP in 2018 under the organisation's more rigorous crash-testing regime, the Nissan Leaf scored a full five-star rating. The Nissan Leaf carries a cutting-edge image – and supports this with plenty of safety tech.
The ProPilot system – which combines active cruise control with lane-keep assist – is only standard on top-spec Tekna. Designed to make driving easier on the motorway, this can deal with stop-start traffic almost autonomously, while also keeping you safely in lane.
Nissan stresses that it is only an assistance system, though, 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 does at least seem to work consistently well.
How to charge it up safely
As with the old Leaf, Nissan has ensured that there are plenty of safety systems around its charging technology. When not charging (but plugged in), an electric relay within the vehicle turns off the power to isolate the charging port.
Although the charging port is waterproof and has a drainage structure for use in the rain, in case of a short circuit, the supply of electricity is immediately interrupted. The batteries themselves are well protected, and designed to withstand accident damage.
How many Isofix points are there?
There are two pairs of Isofix points on the rear seat.
Nissan Leaf hatchback 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.
