The Nissan Leaf has been named most reliable electric vehicle in a study carried out by Warrantywise.
The British warranty company looked at the frequency of repairs, common faults, cost of repair and age at the time of repair. The car has also placed very highly when compared to similar combustion-engine models, with the Leaf finishing 7th overall.
The Warrantywise recognition for the Leaf comes shortly after the car notched up a hat-trick of official recognitions for used examples of the popular EV.
The 40kWh model launched in 2018 was named Used Electric Car of the Year in the What Car? Used Car of the Year Awards 2021, while the first-generation model, on sale from 2011-2017, won its price point (up to £13,000) in the same category. Also, Which? Magazine named the first-generation Leaf a “Best Buy” for 2020 in its annual reliability survey.
Nissan feels very satisfied with how well the Leaf keeps performing, according to Andrew Humberstone, Managing Director of Nissan Motor.
‘‘Not only is Leaf a brilliant choice as a new car but it’s a vehicle that truly stands the test of time and delivers many years of trouble-free, low-cost and emission-free motoring,” he said.
Since the model came out in 2013, it has been widely appreciated all around the world as Nissan has recently rolled out the 500,000th Leaf from its plant in Sunderland.
The hope is that the widespread success of the Leaf shows the world that EVs are as reliable as ICE cars, according to Lawrence Whittaker, CEO of Warrantywise.
“Scepticism surrounding the reliability and powertrain longevity of EV technology, particularly the ability of the batteries to consistently hold full charging capacity, has been a concern in the early uptake of plug-in electric vehicles,” he said. “It is really encouraging to see that the major EV components, such as the powertrain, outperform petrol and diesel counterparts after the manufacturer’s warranty expires.”