Kia EV6 vs Nissan LEAF

The Kia EV6 costs £9,636 more than the Nissan LEAF. For that premium it adds 108 kW faster peak rapid charging and 53 litres more boot space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Nissan LEAF comes out ahead overall.

The Nissan LEAF is £9,636 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £136 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 £9,756 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 301 miles for the Kia EV6 and 313 miles for the Nissan LEAF - effectively matched, and both well below their WLTP figures because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 18 minutes in the Kia EV6 and 30 in the Nissan LEAF, so the Kia EV6 loses less time at each stop.

The Nissan LEAF is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 80 mm narrower than the Kia EV6. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 590 mm of total clearance for the Nissan LEAF and about 510 mm of total clearance for the Kia EV6. The Nissan LEAF also turns in a 0.8 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 89% battery health for the Kia EV6 and 84% for the Nissan LEAF. That gives the Kia EV6 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.