A longer range for one of the first electric cars on the market could be what it takes for buyers to conquer their EV anxiety

As more and more electric vehicles come on to the market, Nissan has upped the Leaf’s game in terms of the thing that matters most – range.

This new 30kWh model runs a denser battery pack than the existing 24kWh version, giving it a claimed range of 155 miles. That’s a 25% improvement, and it gives the newcomer a place at the top of the Leaf range.

Available only in Acenta and Tekna trim, it costs from £30,935 – though that’s before the government’s EV grant contribution is taken off.

Our test vehicle was a Tekna, so it featured 17” alloys, heated seats, a premium stereo and more on top of the Acenta’s climate, rear-view camera, sat-nav and EV-specific telematic system.

Despite all the kit, though, the interior suffers from being trimmed out in plastics that are hard to the touch and all too often not very nice. That’s a shame, because it’s otherwise comfortable and, on the move, impressively refined.

Drivetrain noise is negligible, of course, but that just creates the risk of wind rustle and tyre roar taking its place. These are never offensive, however, even at high speed – and neither is ride quality, which was particularly good on every kind of road we could find.

As always with electric cars, initial pull is very strong indeed. But mid-range is a little lethargic, so it’s never much fun when you need to accelerate past a slower vehicle. Cars like the Leaf are most popular with people who do a lot of urban driving, however, and in this environment it’s in its element.

A longer range means this Leaf wants to tempt you out of the city, but it’ll take time before Motorway Man starts seeing such cars as a viable alternative to his mile-muncher.

Still, what we’re witnessing here is another step along that route. Dealing with range anxiety is a big issue for EV makers, and that’s what Nissan is doing with this new model.

They’ve addressed another kind of worry by upping the warranty on the Leaf’s batteries for eight years or 100,000 miles, too. All of which will help knock down the walls in people’s minds.

Source: Wharf

Next Green Car was invited along to the UK launch of the Nissan Leaf 30kWh at Silverstone yesterday (Tuesday 26th January), giving us another chance at an early test for the new longer-range model.

With around 12,000 UK sales, the current Leaf is the best selling electric vehicle (EV) on the market and has played an important part in increasing the growth of plug-in vehicles in the country. Since its UK launch in 2011, the Leaf has been been joined by the likes of the Renault Zoe, BMW i3, and VW’s e-Golf and e-up! in terms of pure-electric models, and a number of plug-in hybrid vehicles also to increase ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV) sales dramatically in the last five years.

As a market leader then, Nissan is keen to maintain its position as a familiar EV manufacturer to the general public, and this new version of the Leaf shows its commitment to improving the offering available to consumers.

The previous generation of Leaf – the 24kWh battery model – had a quoted range of 124 miles, and a real world ability to cover around 99 miles on a single charge. The 30kWh model extends that official range to 155 miles which, although it is highly unlikely that drivers will ever achieve this figure, the real world range only drops to 124 miles – or the official range of the previous model.

When we attended the European launch towards the end of last year, we had an extended and challenging test route set up which took us up into the Alpes Maritime, with some long climbing making the range plummet before a downward section that saw us recuperate a large amount of energy. This tested the Leaf’s range to extremes and it coped very well, averaging some impressive figures. However, it was worth seeing how well the new Leaf would do on a cold and wet January morning in Britain, with muddy surfaces, pot-holes and a wide range of different roads available to deal with.

In terms of testing the biggest change to the Leaf – the increased range – the Nissan again performed well. The route was less obviously demanding, there are no mountains to climb in Northamptonshire after all, but conditions and roads represented a far more typical journey.

The car we were allocated came with a full charge and an indicated 99 miles worth of range. This low figure was explained by both a cold night and, of greater impact, the fact that the car had been used for press images the previous day, with the Leaf having weighted its indicated range to some spirited driving.

Deciding to treat the Leaf without any deference normally due to an EV, we set off on the route and drove exactly as if we were in a petrol or diesel model. The only difference was the use of the Leaf’s Eco button once acceleration was completed and we were largely up to speed. This meant sitting at around 70 mph on dual carriageways and motorways for about a third of the 55 mile route.

Read more: Next Green Car

The electric Nissan Leaf now has a greater range thanks to a boosted 30kWh battery pack. But is a bigger charge enough to tempt you away from cheaper, conventional petrol and diesel hatchbacks that don’t suffer from range anxiety in the first place?

Read our first drive review to find out whether – five years after becoming the first credibly mainstream EV – it can still make a viable argument for the silent but saintly genre.

What’s new on the 2016 Nissan Leaf?

The Leaf has evolved slowly since launch in 2010, gaining a tidier interior here, cleverer electronics there, and now a bigger charge capacity to stretch the (theoretical) range by as much as a quarter. Nissan claims the 30kWh battery pack means you can now drive up to 155 miles on a single charge.

The battery is the same size as the old one, but weighs around 21kg more, thanks to a different cell architecture inside and uprated power management systems on top. Buyers can still choose the cheaper 24kWh Leaf if they prefer.

There’s a refreshed 7in touchscreen multimedia system, too, and Nissan has overhauled its smartphone app, rebranding it NissanConnect EV and adding new features such as guidance to the nearest unused charging stations. You can still remotely warm your Leaf up from the breakfast table – handy for those cold winter mornings. Relying on electricity for heat means it defrosts in a jiffy.

How does the new Leaf EV drive?

The Leaf hasn’t changed much since we first drove it earlier this decade; the car is still a paragon of saintly silence – wafting quietly around city streets, the soft, floaty ride smothering away the worst road acne rolling under those eco-tilted Dunlop Enasave 215/50 R17 tyres. There are few more relaxing cars to drive.

Read more: Car Magazine