Nissan LEAF (2018-2023) vs Renault 4

The Nissan LEAF is £705 cheaper to buy. The Renault 4 is cheaper to charge, roughly £144 a year versus £184 for the Nissan LEAF, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Nissan LEAF comes out roughly £505 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 109 miles for the Nissan LEAF and 208 miles for the Renault 4 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Renault 4 goes roughly 99 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 40 minutes in the Nissan LEAF and 30 in the Renault 4, so the Renault 4 loses less time at each stop. That makes the Renault 4 the stronger long-distance car.

The two are within 8 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 612 mm of total clearance for the Nissan LEAF and about 604 mm of total clearance for the Renault 4.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 76% battery health for the Nissan LEAF and 84% for the Renault 4. That gives the Renault 4 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. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.