Leaf and Micra: double lotto at Nissan
Nissan is launching two new electric cars, the Leaf and the Micra. Both have been developed with technology from alliance partner Renault - but this is not equally obvious in both.
The Nissan Leaf came onto the market almost exactly 15 years ago. Equipped with a 24-kWh battery and with a range of 200 kilometers, it was the first electric car to be produced on a large scale and was the world's best-selling electric car for almost a decade. By the time Nissan launched the second generation in 2017, the competition was already fierce and Tesla had established itself as the market leader. The second Leaf was unable to build on the success of its predecessor. With the recently launched third generation, everything is set to change again. The Leaf is being transformed from a five-door compact car into a stylish coupé-crossover. And although the new model is almost 15 centimetres shorter than its predecessor with a length of 4.35 meters, it looks significantly larger and more grown-up thanks to its SUV-like appearance. The new Leaf is based on the AmpR medium platform from Alliance partner Renault.
Up to 600 kilometers
This makes the Leaf a fully-fledged electric car suitable for everyday use. The 75 kWh battery is said to enable a range of 600 kilometers (according to WLTP) and can be charged with up to 150 kW. With the V2L (Vehicle-to-Load) function, external consumers can be supplied with up to 3.6 kW of electrical power and V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) is also already prepared, allowing electricity to be fed back into the grid. Those who are satisfied with a shorter range can opt for the variant with a 52 kWh battery and a range of 436 kilometers. The engine output is directly linked to the battery size: with the larger battery, the electric motor delivers 160 kW/217 hp, with the smaller battery it is 133 kW/177 hp. In both cases, only the front axle is driven.
Even though the Leaf is based on the Renault platform, it has little in common with the French manufacturer's models apart from the technical basis. It is much more oriented towards its big brother, the Nissan Ariya, which uses the same platform. The Leaf shares the closed radiator grille, the V-shaped downward-pointing lights and the curved roofline with the Ariya. Nissan has also hidden a whole series of so-called "Easter Eggs" in and on the car: the number combination "2-3" can be found in various places, including in the rear lights, which consist of two vertical and three horizontal elements. "2-3" is pronounced "Ni-San" in Japanese - almost like the manufacturer's name.
The Leaf also skillfully adopts the design language of the Ariya in the interior, with a two-spoke steering wheel and the two screens, which are based on the simple dashboard. The center console does not extend all the way to the front, which creates a liberated feeling of space - however, the selector lever also had to make way for four push buttons, which require some getting used to. Apart from that, the new Leaf drives as you would expect from an electric compact SUV, with smooth steering, softly tuned dampers and even acceleration. Prices for the new Leaf have not yet been set and it is expected to arrive in Europe in early 2026.
New Micra as R5 clone
Even before that, Nissan is launching what is now the sixth generation of the popular Micra small car. This will also be purely electric and uses Renault technology - albeit more extensively than the Leaf. Only the materials in the interior and some body parts have been adapted, the rest has been taken from the Renault 5.
Nissan makes no secret of the close relationship: "Everything that is painted in the color of the car is from us. We took the rest from Renault," was the open statement made at the presentation of the new model. Which is certainly no bad thing, as it currently holds the title of "Car of the Year" and offers more charm and driving pleasure than almost any other small electric car.
This transforms the Nissan Micra from a wallflower into a fun small car with 110 kW/150 hp on the front axle. As with the previous generations, the new Micra will not undercut the competition in terms of price. Despite the market launch in September, Nissan has not yet announced any prices, but it can be assumed that these will not differ greatly from the Renault 5.
