The Nissan LEAF has won recognition for the third time this year from What Car?, the UK’s biggest car-buying brand.
The latest feather in LEAF’s cap comes courtesy of the organisation’s annual Reliability Survey, with the 2011-2018 model named Most Reliable EV in the ‘Cars up to Five Years Old’ category.
Its inclusion in the survey follows a brace of awards for LEAF courtesy of What Car? recently. The second-generation version (2018>) was named ‘Best Used Electric Family Car’ in the 2021 Electric Car Awards – and was also named ‘Best Used Electric Car’ in the 2021 Used Car Awards.
To compile the Reliability Survey, feedback from more than 16,000 car owners was analysed to find the country’s most dependable models and brands, from nearly new cars to those up to five years old. The 2011-2018 LEAF achieved a reliability rating of an incredible 98.6 per cent.
Accessible entry point
What Car? editor Steve Huntingford said: “The UK’s used car market is currently booming, making it all the more important that people know which models will be reliable. With feedback from more than 16,000 owners, the latest What Car? Reliability Survey highlights the brands and models with the best and worst records.”
A Nissan spokesperson said: ‘‘We’re delighted by LEAF’s inclusion in the annual What Car? Reliability Survey – it’s a car that’s kind to the planet and one that its owners can depend upon, year after year.
“As the original mass-market EV, LEAF continues to be an accessible entry point to all-electric driving for thousands of motorists, whether that’s as a used example or the latest generation LEAF e+. And as this latest recognition from What Car? shows, it certainly won’t let you down.’’
Since its global launch in 2010, LEAF has seen enhancements to both battery capacity and performance from 24kWh to 30kWh in 2016. The current-generation model offers both 40kWh and 62kWh capacities, with an official range of up to 239 miles (WLTP) on range-topping e+ examples.