Nissan e-NV200 Review

Performance

No one expects a small van to be designed for speed, but the e-NV200 can feel surprisingly perky. Even with a load on board, the 109bhp electric motor borrowed from the Leaf gives instant pulling power as soon as you touch the accelerator, which means it is capable of pulling out into gaps on a roundabout or away from traffic lights in a far more relaxed fashion than a diesel.

Once you’re above 30mph or so it doesn’t feel quite so perky, although it never feels dangerously slow. It will happily accelerate up to 70mph and sit at the legal limit on the motorway, but driving like this for any amount of time will really hurt the battery range. The top speed of 74mph is never going to win you a bragging contest and is about the same as a Citroen 2CV from the 1980s, but the limiter will keep your licence clean and your battery range higher. Stick to urban areas and town speeds and the e-NV200 is perfectly at home though. 

Drive

For anyone used to driving a diesel-powered van around town, the e-NV200 will be a revelation. It is easy and smooth to drive, with no vibrations or clattering from the engine, no gears to change or clutch to pump and no more visits to the petrol station unless you are in need of a Ginsters pasty or a bunch of wilting flowers. 

Simply open the e-NV’s door, press the start button, select D on the gear lever and off you go. Once you start to get used to it there are a few modes to play with, but nothing which is going to fox anyone.

Underneath, the e-NV200 uses most of the Leaf’s major mechanical parts, but the van is taller and narrower. This is great as it improves visibility with a higher, SUV-like driving position and makes threading through narrow city streets easier too. The trade off is that it feels a little top-heavy in the bends, and the suspension has been made a little stiffer to offset this. As a consequence the NV can be a bit crashy through potholes and badly-surfaced roads.