Nissan Leaf

The interior cabin of the Nissan Leaf hasn’t been designed in an over the top manner, which makes it look conventional yet up to date. The all-black cabin feels spacious, save for the headroom which can feel a bit limited for tall passengers. The high running transmission tunnel also eats up a bit of legroom too, at the back.

The flat bottom three-spoke multi-functional steering wheel is something which we have already seen on global Nissan cars like Micra and Kicks. However, what feels refreshing here is the full TFT colored instrument console, which shows crisp displays for a range of data, in a trapezoidal housing.

The center console of the dashboard has a lot of trapezoidal influence for each bit present here – the AC vents, the slightly protruding out touchscreen infotainment system with piano black surround and the panel for climate control with butterfly wing-themed buttons for it. The tapering down design for the lower center console, which flows towards the transmission knob, adds some substance to the cabin.

Compared to the model it has replaced, the second-generation Nissan Leaf looks much sharper, with a number of angular design cues which make the car look extremely sporty. The electric hatchback has a low slung stance with a slightly sloping roofline, which does make its silhouette very sporty.

The front profile of the Nissan Leaf boasts of the new generation V-motion grille by the Japanese carmaker, which consists of a wide Y-shaped grille that extends to the sweptback angular headlamps. The middle portion of the grille is finished in silver, while the extensions placed lower to it flows with a piano black theme that goes all the way to the lower edges of the headlamp. The headlamp units consist of LED projectors as well as boomerang-shaped daytime running LEDs above them. 

The side profile of the Nissan Leaf looks quite charismatic, thanks to the sloping roof theme as well as floating design for it due to the blackened C-pillar applique. The window waistline of the hatchback flows smoothly and has a humped design towards the C-pillar, which eventually flows towards the boomerang-shaped tail lamps. The chrome-finished door handles and machined alloy wheels make the Leaf look quite smart.

At the back, the boomerang-shaped LED tail lamps as well as a broad gloss black garnish flowing in between of them across the width of the boot lid make it look smart. Even the roof spoiler is finished in gloss black theme, which adds to the nice contrast it possesses over the rest of the design.

The Nissan Leaf is bestowed with a conventional mechanical setup under its skin, consisting of a suspension setup of Macpherson struts at the front and torsion beam at the rear. The Nissan Leaf is targeted as a perfect solution for urban mobility, and with that essence in mind, the overall suspension has been tuned for a softer and plusher feel, thus resulting in brilliant low-speed ride quality. The steering feedback, however, doesn’t feel too sporty lacks the weighted feel at higher speeds.

The Nissan Leaf sources its power from a full electric motor mated to a single-speed gearbox, as in every other electric car. The motor has the capacity to belt out a maximum power output of 150 PS, while the peak torque output maxes out at 320 Nm. These are some real healthy figures for a hatchback of this size, and the Nissan Leaf further impresses even more with its maximum drive range of 311 km.

The subtly long list of safety features standard in the Nissan Leaf includes front, side and curtain airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, chassis control with intelligent trace control, intelligent engine brake, intelligent ride control, intelligent driver alertness, hill start assist, reverse parking sensors, vehicle dynamic control, reverse camera and tire pressure monitoring system.

The Nissan Leaf is one full-electric car which looks future-ready, but at the same time, it has a flavor of conventionalism in it – whether its design, interior layout and list of features. This very trait of Nissan Leaf makes it a car which is high on aspirational value yet is hugely practical.