Nissan LEAF - Auto Express Car of the Year 2026

Why did the Nissan LEAF win Car of the Year 2026?

Auto Express praised the LEAF for "a superb mix of efficiency, comfort and practicality, all at a fantastic price." In plain terms: it goes a long way on a small amount of electricity, it's pleasant to sit in for three hours, and it costs less than most of the cars it beat. Efficiency did most of the heavy lifting.

That last point is worth dwelling on. The 75kWh LEAF returns up to 4.5 miles per kWh - a figure most EVs simply don't reach. Efficiency isn't a spec-sheet flourish; it's the number that decides what your charging actually costs. Two cars can both claim 300 miles. The efficient one gets there on less electricity, and you feel the difference every month.

Some of that comes down to shape. The new LEAF has a drag coefficient of 0.25, which is slippery for something with a boot and five seats. Nissan's designers rounded off the front, tucked the door handles away and gave it a fastback roofline. It looks less like a science project than the old one did. Thank goodness.

How far does the new Nissan LEAF go on a charge?

Up to 386 miles (WLTP) with the 75kWh battery, or up to 280 miles with the 52kWh. At a steady 70mph on the motorway, Nissan quotes up to 269 miles for the 75kWh version — the number that actually matters if you're driving Preston to London and would rather not stop twice.

Here's the two batteries side by side.

On a 150kW rapid charger, the 75kWh LEAF goes from 20% to 80% in under 30 minutes, adding around 273 miles. That's a coffee and a wander round the services, not a picnic.

What's it actually like inside?

Two 14.3-inch screens run Google built-in, so Maps, Assistant and the Play Store are native rather than mirrored from your phone. No pairing dance every morning. The 3D Around View Monitor includes an Invisible Hood View that shows you what's under the front of the car, which sounds like a gimmick right up until you're parking against a kerb you can't see.

There's e-Pedal Step for one-pedal driving, and a 3.1kW V2L socket vehicle-to-load that turns the car into a plug socket. Camping kettle. Site tools. Christmas lights on the drive, if you're that way inclined.

Boot space is 437 litres. Length is 4,350mm, so it slots between a Qashqai and a Juke on the drive, and fits a Lancashire terraced street better than most EVs of its range.

Where do Nissan's other EVs sit?

Nissan placed three cars in the round-up: the LEAF at number one, the all-electric MICRA at 15th, and the ARIYA at 69th. Three cars in a 161-strong field, one of them top. Not a bad afternoon's work for a brand that started selling mass-market EVs back in 2010, when most manufacturers were still calling them a fad.

See the award-winner for yourself

The all-new LEAF is available to order through Chorley Nissan now, with the Electric Car Grant already applied to the prices above.

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