Kia Niro EV vs Nissan LEAF (2018-2023)

The Kia Niro EV costs £8,505 more than the Nissan LEAF. For that premium it adds 120 miles more WLTP range and 40 kW more power. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Nissan LEAF comes out ahead overall.

The Nissan LEAF is £8,505 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £176 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Nissan LEAF comes out roughly £8,465 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 194 miles for the Kia Niro EV and 109 miles for the Nissan LEAF - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Kia Niro EV goes roughly 86 miles further between charging stops.

The Nissan LEAF is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 37 mm narrower than the Kia Niro EV. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 612 mm of total clearance for the Nissan LEAF and about 575 mm of total clearance for the Kia Niro EV.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Kia Niro EV and 76% for the Nissan LEAF. That gives the Kia Niro EV a modest edge in retained real-world range. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. The Nissan LEAF has the longer battery warranty at 8 years, versus 7 for the Kia Niro EV.