This time next year, Nissan dealers will be busy selling an all-new version of the brand’s Leaf electric car – the third-generation model was unveiled last month, but being yet another new electric vehicle (EV) did not exactly merit that many headlines.

All of which is a bit of a shame, because the Leaf is a car with a glorious history, a true pioneer. Revealed in 2009 as the first mass-production EV, it laid the foundations for all that has come in the zero-emission market since – whether that be the giant that is Tesla, the mass move into electric by just about every other manufacturer, or the most recent major leap into the market made by the emerging Chinese brands with their in many cases advantage in electric technology.

It’s perhaps fair to say that, previously being the market leader in electric, neither the Leaf or in fact Nissan has maintained that leadership, perhaps not making the most of its initial technology advantage and instead falling behind its rivals to become just another EV maker.

The world’s all-time top-selling EV for a decade – and in the UK a prime candidate for company car drivers trying to keep their taxes low – the Leaf was finally dethroned by the Tesla Model 3 in early 2022 and its fall from grace has been swift since. The car last appeared in the UK’s EV sales top 10 in 2022.

This is no doubt one reason why the Leaf that Nissan has just unveiled is very different to that pioneer which caught the global imagination in 2009. The first Leaf, or to use proper Nissan parlance LEAF (Leading Environmentally-friendly Affordable Family car) was a five-door hatchback and initially had a range on a full charge of a mere 73 miles.

Despite this many observers saw it as the future of motoring and environmental groups seized upon it as a standard-bearer for green technology, its cause helped by steadily increases in battery pack size and efficiency, and therefore range.

By the time the second-generation Leaf was unveiled in 2018, it had more power, 147hp instead of 110hp, and a range nudging close to 150 miles. It also scored on its styling, which was far more general family car than obviously electric vehicle. For those who wanted to help save the planet without shouting about it, the second-generation Leaf held a lot more appeal than its predecessor, represented in the fact that global sales of the Leaf are rapidly closing on 700,000 units.

Crossing over to new territory

They’ve been slipping recently though, and now we have a third-generation Leaf, and major changes again – not least reflecting the fact that most buyers have fallen out of love with traditional cars. So the new Leaf adopts a crossover body style, understandably chasing the market but in the process putting itself up against a whole lot of very strong competition.

Crucially, the new Leaf ups the Important figures again – it will come with two battery sizes, a 52kWh unit expected to offer up to 270 miles before being plugged in and a 75kWh unit stretching that to 375 miles – five times the range of the original 2009 car.

The Leaf also offers one other marketing plus point to dealers that the vast majority of its rivals don’t – it is a true British car. Since 2012 Leafs have been built at Nissan’s enormous plant just outside Sunderland in the northeast of England, and even the batteries are made there these days – perhaps a consideration for more patriotic buyers.

So considering all that and ahead of the new model’s arrival, why is the Leaf no longer the desirable EV it once was? On the evidence of previous tests it’s not really the fault of the car itself, which is as worthy of consideration as any other EV, especially in the business motoring market.

The Leaf’s declining status could be put down to a number of reasons, the most obvious one being that just about everyone makes electric cars these days and some makers, notably Tesla, have done a very good job of plugging their electric credentials.

It can also be argued that Nissan has not made the most of the electric boost it gained with the early Leaf – the expansion of its electric offerings has been very slow indeed, with currently the only other all-electric model on offer being the large Ariya crossover.

Instead, the brand has gone heavily on its ‘e-Power’ – effectively a form of hybrid, cars that drive like pukka EVs but also come fitted with small petrol engines to recharge the batteries. A long-pitched all-electric version of the brand’s big-selling Juke SUV is expected in 2026, but the next version of the model that effectively started the SUV craze and is still a best-seller today, the Qashqai, looks set to stay with e-Power.

Globally Nissan has struggled globally in recent times, illustrated by a $4.5bn loss for the fiscal year to March 2025, and a short-lived attempt earlier this year to merge with rival Japanese brand Honda. And this was despite the company selling more than 100,000 cars in 2024, up more than 12% on its 2023 performance.

The Qashqai and Juke are also both built at Sunderland but even at such a vital plant Nissan has announced in the past few weeks plans to seek redundancies among the workforce, some observers predicting 250 posts could go.

Recharged batteries?

So a lot will be riding on the new Leaf proving a success and Nissan is making its expectations obvious. New UK boss James Taylor, formerly head of Vauxhall in the UK, stated days after taking on his new role that the company has not made enough of its status as the original electric car manufacturer, suggesting it hadn’t had a wide enough range of EVs which will change within the next two years.

The Leaf will be a central part of that strategy and according to its chief engineer will “set the standard for future electric vehicles,” while its designer, highlighting the change to a crossover style, has long stated that it will be a breakthrough model that makes EVs truly mainstream models.

Strong words – we look forward to driving the new Leaf and seeing if it lives up to the billing…