The car that has introduced more Kiwis to electric than any other doesn’t deserve to be such a hard sell brand-new.

Price: $63,990

Powertrain: Single electric motor with 40kWh lithium ion battery, output 110kW/320Nm, front-wheel drive, single speed. Energy use 16.1 kWh/100km, range 270km.

Vital statistics: 4490mm long, 1788mm wide, 1540mm high, wheelbase 2700mm.

For: Robust and thoughtful engineering, e-Pedal, driver assists, practical cabin.

Against: Dated interior, compromised boot space, modest range for money.

FEW cars are more prolific and have such amazingly loyal and satisfied owners - and, yet, none surely better relates a story of ‘what might have been’? 

To anyone outside of New Zealand who needs an example of the best and worst outcomes of NZ’s free market approach to vehicle availability, there’s surely no better example than the Nissan Leaf. 

There’s no argument about Leaf being a landmark and international trailblazer. In a world where the EV spotlight falls so often on a guy who wants to live on Mars and screw social media earns all the headlines, this compact and inoffensive car has truly been core to triggering the electric revolution and has provided a route into battery-only driving for thousands of Kiwis.

The twist – or, more accurately, knife twist - is that just a minority of the thousands on our roads have been provisioned by Nissan NZ.

Ironic if 2022 might be the best ever in that respect; 242 registrations to date this year surely shows the power of rebates. It had a quieter 2021, with 90. But even this year being a bumper count, it’s still a modest harvest. Tesla has cumulatively done more with one shipment of Model 3s in this year than Nissan over the past three. BYD has also hit richer paydirt with Atto 3.

For sure, Leaf has been through the school of hard knocks. Times were different when it first introduced. There were no incentives to buy new electrics, they were expensive and the fan base was smaller.  

With our open slather sales environment, used imports were too tempting to ignore. Our free market has been as perfectly-suited to the Leaf over its various formulations as it has been for Toyota’s Prius, the global success of which was, by Nissan’s admission, a catalyst for actioning the Leaf programme as a one-upmanship.  

The consequences of plucking hot from the Japanese domestic market has meant buying product with handbooks, radios and factory warranties sorted for the country of primary sale. But Kiwis haven’t given a jot.

Pre-owned Leaf has dropped here in autumnal-thick layering; to point where it’s probable that there are more examples of every version created primarily for Japan in this country than remain in that one.

The owner group has developed a fierce loyalty and incredibly in-depth knowledge of the car; it’s the EV with surely the most social media attention, with deep-diving into the sensible - maintenance and trip prep advice – the downright bizarre. There are some truly crackpot tinfoil hat conspiracy theories about how the brand that delivered the car is also somehow the enemy when it comes to how it is supported.

Anyway, putting all that aside, it’s an interesting time for Leaf, given there are so many indications the current car, now almost four years into life, could well be the last.

Nissan’s new electric push is with the Ariya, a five-seater SUV. It is already in production and while there’s no clarity from Nissan NZ as to when it will join their line-up, they’d surely be nuts not to adopt it, for all sorts of reasons.

Ariya represents as a new era item; far more advanced technology in a different, sports utility/crossover setting that conceivably would have broader appeal to lifestyle-oriented Kiwis than the current hatch shape does.

 Also, look how the market has changed. When Leaf arrived, electric cars were for kooks. Now sentiment and opportunity have moved on considerably, to point where buying electric is increasingly considered canny. 

The national distributor is showing indominable spirit in continuing to represent the Leaf in NZ-new form. Actually, make that a plural. At time of writing, there were effectively four versions on the books. The entry $63,990 40kWh car and the higher-end $72,990 62kWh E-Plus in fresh off the boat MY23 formats and outgoing versions of each that are slightly cheaper.

The 2023 cars being sign-off models might probably be a good thing; while it ticks off on fundamentals and build quality is excellent, it’s patently starting to look and feel a bit time-worn and is superseded by others in some respects in specification, range and performance. Nothing quite dates an EV, perhaps, than the side-by-side provision of old-school Type One AC and more commonplace Type Two AC/DC charging ports (each requiring a specific on-board cable).

The whole value-for-money thing also comes under the spotlight. Even though it is cheaper now than it once way, given what some other brands are able to do in the low (pre-rebate) $50k zone, proposition Leaf is an affordable EV still seems less solid in brand-new form than in pre-owned.  Maybe it costs less to build a car in China.

 On that point, whereas used Leaf invariably comes to us from Japan, could the factory-fresh cars for NZ being built in the United Kingdom (hence why the indicator and wiper wands are the wrong way around) reflect in the sticker? They travel so much further to get here.

 Nonetheless, credit to Nissan for doing all it can to keep it credible, even in a way that requires fine print digging to understand. For MY2023 it has been dabbling with the battery chemistry to improve the usable capacities; to. The 39kWh usable for the 40kWh and 59kWh for the 62kWh. Range and performance don’t alter. There’s still no thermal management, either. 

As much as you’re getting more of what’s on offer, packing a 40kWh unit is surely definitely going ‘lite’ now; the only NZ-new cars delivering with less are physically smaller and lighter.  

Driving range is one of the most important things for those considering an EV and cited maximum range of 270kms, though gauged from WLTP testing, which is closer to what is considered real-world driving than the old procedure, doesn’t fizz any more.

Also, from this experience I’d still say it should be considered an ‘at very best’ estimate. During test, the air conditioning was almost always on, the car was taken daily in open road and urban environments, clocking 80-100km on most days. I used a blend of Eco mode on and off and e-Pedal. I trickle charged most nights, but not all, the lowest remaining range was 70km, which to my (perhaps paranoid) mind is about as close to ‘empty’ I’d dare go in an EV. 

It wouldn’t be fair to call the 40kWh car inadequate. Most EVs tend to be driven short distances and most owners are committed to keeping them topped up – If you keep the battery topped up every time you park then range anxiety shouldn't be an issue the vast majority of the time. Let’s not forget that Leaf, though a bigger product than it originally was and certainly not one fazed by the 100kmh environment, is still designed foremost for excellence in urban operability.

But it’s logical to think the bigger battery version realistically stands as the better choice for taking on prolonged trips, simply because you’ll spend less time looking for replenishment. What is more challenging when Leaf is on a shortlist in either format, though, is that cheaper rivals go further and pack bigger batteries.

It could be argued that a smaller battery means less time spent replenishing. That’s kinda true. With a DC fast charge, the Leaf can get to 80 percent capacity in a nippy 40-60 minutes. But using a home wall box, replenishment takes approximately 7.5 hours, while with the supplied three-pin cable that’s pushed out to 21 hours. No better than other like-sized and priced cars. 

One point of difference with Leaf within that crowd is the styling. You can understand why most EVs are either SUVs or crossovers – those formats are hot and taller cars offer alluring battery packaging solutions – but, at same token, it’s still quite good to run one with a hatchback shape.

Even though it is from the period when alternatively-fuelled cars had to look different in order to succeed, and is not an emotional shape per se, it’s not a poor looking car. The tester’s contrasting black roof and door mirrors enhanced the kerbside appeal; though the wheel design split opinion, the rim size suited. Much of the exterior detailing is really well executed, too. For a mainstream car, it feels crafted.

Park the NZ-new product next to year-old JUC equivalents and you’ll have to be a bit of a nerd to pick the differences, but they do exist. Nissan’s endless pursuit of aero efficiency has seen the grille and front bumper revise, a different small spoiler zonked onto the rear deck. The shaping of the side skirts is altered at the rear for smoother air flow. So too that of the bonnet badge, if you believe the marketing bumpf.

The most immediately obvious difference is with those alloys; the spokes being a mass of symmetrical slates is to be less disruptive to air flow. That might have been achieved, but whoever drew them up never gave thought to having to clean them. You’d need a toothbrush to shift the brake dust and road grime.

 The cabin seems to have escaped any revision. Nissan’s commitment to keeping the same buttons, knobs and switches it’s had in everything it builds for eons pulls it back into a past beyond its actual years makes it more of a time capsule than it deserves to be. Plastics aren’t flash, either. But it’s solidly constructed, set to be hard-wearing and the control layout is easily fathomed; better than some, actually.  

The seven-inch infotainment touchscreen looks more substantial than it is, thanks to a large bezel surround, and is easier operated when the car is stationary, as the touch-sensitive buttons are small. Try for those on the move and it’s easy to hit the wrong one.  

The instrument display is better resolved and can be adjusted to display a variety of data, including power usage and remaining range. The drive selector has a quirky movement, but you get used to it. The Ariya seems to have gone to a more orthodox shifter.

The front chairs are quite comfy and the driving position fine for the tall, and overall the cabin is quite spacious. It has a big boot, enlarged by the 60/40 split folding rear seats, so it’s utterly perplexing why Nissan has plonked the stereo’s substantial amp at the halfway point, spanning much of the space between the wheel arches. Every time you put something heavy in there it’ll be with misgiving about doing damage. 

Range limitations notwithstanding, from what was my first decent time behind the wheel of a distributor-provided Leaf – yes, really, for many years they just kept it out of the media’s reach – it’s easy to understand why it’s a model many seriously consider as being fine as an only car.

The driving experience isn’t in the same wow-worthy level delivered by a Kia EV6 or Hyundai Ioniq 5, not least for performance: The usual EV step-off briskness is there, but it hasn’t the punch.  

Yet it’s well -executed for quietness and refinement. Wind and road noise are well-contained; to point, actually, when the faint whine of the electric drivetrain is the primary aural involvement. At open road speed the suspension seems a little on the firm side, but I’m guessing that’s to help it cope with the weight. As said, with this size battery, I cannot imagine significant endurance excursions are unlikely to be executed often, anyway, so no harm there. 

Not everyone that buys a Leaf is likely to try exploring the limits of its chassis performance, but if you are in a hurry, it holds the road well, even on its low rolling resistance tyres. Overall, though, dynamic appeal is not overwhelming.

 A positive feature is the e-Pedal, which provides one-pedal driving, allowing you to accelerate and (mostly) brake by using just the throttle pedal. When you lift your foot off it, the system begins to regenerate energy, influencing enough to slow the car right down to a stop if needed. It will also hold the car, even on a hill, until you reapply the throttle. It does take a little bit of time to get used to, but the benefits are obvious, particularly around town and in heavier stop-start traffic.

Other tech? Traffic sign recognition is a handy feature as well as the ProPilot system, an advanced form of adaptive cruise control using an array of sensors, radar and a camera system to monitor what is going on, plus also provide assistance with parking. 

The EV landscape has changed significantly; this generation Leaf has had to contend with a gaggle of impressive challengers, with more to come next year. It’s no longer the bright new thing.

Even so, it still does what it needs to do, and if the driving and operational elements occur in an unobtrusive, inoffensive and not particularly involving way, let’s not forget the factors, including fortitude (no matter how old or time-worn, online comment suggests Leafs are hard to kill) that have made it the white t-shirt of the EV world.

Leaf. The car that did. The car that didn’t. The car that really changed everything. It was great to finally meet, and have chance to salute, this hardy trouper. But the experience really reinforced that this is a sunset period. If Nissan wants to get back to the top of the tree, it needs Ariya.