• Touchscreen infotainment feels very old fashioned
• Lots of buttons, but poorly laid out
• Ventilation system is at least easy to use

How is the quality and layout?

The latest Nissan Leaf’s cabin is a significant improvement over the previous model but still feels several steps behind the best rivals. It’s more conventional than before, sharing many features with the Nissan Micra. Quality has improved, too, with fewer hard plastics; where these remain they are mostly hiding out of your sightline in the depths of the footwells.

However, the Leaf’s dashboard offers a mixture of good and bad control logic. The layout is more familiar, but the number of buttons is almost intimidating – and not all of them are rationally placed. For example, there are essentially four driving modes, but they are operated by three different controls.

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Infotainment and technology

Every version of the Leaf gets the same 8.0-inch infotainment system and, while it’s easy enough to navigate, it also feels very old fashioned compared to the sleek technology you’ll now find in the – much newer – Hyundai Ioniq 5, for example. The Volkswagen ID.3 also offers a more modern approach (though doesn’t always do a very good job of it), as does the MG4.

In better news, while operating the Leaf’s driving modes might require a bit of mental gymnastics, Nissan’s ProPilot active cruise control system is relatively straightforward to use. The heating and ventilation controls also couldn’t be simpler; many other carmakers could do well to heed this example.

Comfort

• Quiet at speed so relaxing inside
• Seats are reasonably comfortable
• Driving position not great

While the seats and refinement are positive attributes for the Leaf – which is very quiet, even at speed – the driving position won’t suit everyone. Because the seats are perched atop some of the batteries, they’re set quite high. This is good for forward visibility, but not ideal when the steering wheel doesn’t really go high enough for moderately taller drivers.

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Earlier versions of this model didn’t come with telescopic reach adjustment, either, so you ended-up needing to move the seat forward to comfortably reach the wheel – but then your knees risked contact with the chunky steering column. Though reach adjustment is now fitted, the compromises here may still put some buyers off the car before they’ve started the test drive.

For details of the ride comfort see the Engines section of this review.