MG S5 EV vs Nissan LEAF

The Nissan LEAF costs £4,504 more than the MG S5 EV. For that premium it adds 77 miles more WLTP range. The MG S5 EV is not just cheaper - it also offers a 1.3s quicker 0-62mph time. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Nissan LEAF comes out ahead overall.

The MG S5 EV is £4,504 cheaper to buy. The Nissan LEAF is cheaper to charge, roughly £136 a year versus £168 for the MG S5 EV, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the MG S5 EV comes out roughly £4,344 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 208 miles for the MG S5 EV and 313 miles for the Nissan LEAF - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Nissan LEAF goes roughly 105 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 28-30 minutes.

The Nissan LEAF is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 39 mm narrower than the MG S5 EV. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 590 mm of total clearance for the Nissan LEAF and about 551 mm of total clearance for the MG S5 EV.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the MG S5 EV and 84% for the Nissan LEAF. 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.