As Nissan LEAF charged past the milestone of 20,000 sales in the UK, owners of the best-selling electric vehicle have heaped praise on the model in the 2017 Driver Power survey.

The Nissan LEAF was awarded Best Green Car overall and also came top in the Best Engine and Gearbox and Best MPG and Running Costs awards categories.

Driver Power is the UK’s biggest and most in-depth car satisfaction survey, with seven surveys covering the different phases of vehicle ownership. There also nine Judging Category awards split into satisfaction categories.

Editor of Auto Express, Graham Hope, commented;

“The Nissan LEAF’s results in the 2017 survey indicates that the hard work that the Nissan team has put in developing the vehicle and educating the market about the benefits of Electric Vehicles (EV) has paid off.”

“Leading the way in EVs is important. People are becoming more conscious of green vehicles (Hybrids and Electric Vehicles) and this year we have seen a 375% increase in the number of green vehicle owners.”

The Driver Power results came as Nissan GB confirmed it had sold its 20,000th Nissan LEAF in the UK.

The buyers of the milestone model were Diane and Chris Ray of Hollesley in Suffolk, who took home a range-topping 30kWh LEAF Tekna from local dealer Hammond Nissan.

It is the couple’s second Nissan LEAF – replacing a two year-old 24kWh model – and it was the only car on their shopping list when the time came for a replacement.

Diane, who runs a holiday let business, said:

“I love the LEAF. It does everything I want from a car and is beautiful to drive.

“When the time came to replace mine I didn’t look at anything else. I only wanted another LEAF but this time with the bigger battery.”

She added:

“It was a real surprise to find out I was the 20,000th LEAF customer but it’s so encouraging to see more and more people switching to all-electric cars and exciting to know I’m a part of that story.”

Read more: Nissan GB News