MINI Countryman vs Nissan LEAF

The Nissan LEAF costs £2,994 more than the MINI Countryman. For that premium it adds 65 miles more WLTP range and a 1.0s quicker 0-62mph time. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Nissan LEAF comes out ahead overall.

The MINI Countryman is £2,994 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 MINI Countryman comes out roughly £2,954 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 258 miles for the MINI Countryman 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 54 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 29-30 minutes.

The Nissan LEAF is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 33 mm narrower than the MINI Countryman. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 590 mm of total clearance for the Nissan LEAF and about 557 mm of total clearance for the MINI Countryman. The Nissan LEAF also turns in a 0.6 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 MINI Countryman 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.