Nissan LEAF vs Vauxhall Astra

The Nissan LEAF costs £6,004 more than the Vauxhall Astra. For that premium it adds 94 miles more WLTP range, 50 kW faster peak rapid charging and 85 litres more boot space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Nissan LEAF comes out ahead overall.

The Vauxhall Astra is £6,004 cheaper to buy. The Nissan LEAF is cheaper to charge, roughly £136 a year versus £168 for the Vauxhall Astra, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Vauxhall Astra comes out roughly £5,844 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 313 miles for the Nissan LEAF and 191 miles for the Vauxhall Astra - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Nissan LEAF goes roughly 121 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 26-30 minutes.

The Nissan LEAF is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 50 mm narrower than the Vauxhall Astra. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 590 mm of total clearance for the Nissan LEAF and about 540 mm of total clearance for the Vauxhall Astra. The Vauxhall Astra also turns in a 0.3 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Nissan LEAF and 84% for the Vauxhall Astra. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation.