2020 BMW I3 vs Nissan LEAF

What's the difference?

Yes, it’s pricey for a small hatch, but this little BMW is a city car like no other. The i3s is tailor made for the urban environment, and six years on retains the quirkiness and charisma that stood it apart at launch, and it can still hold its head high among the current EV crop. 

The Nissan Leaf is a great car to zip around in and it’s fun to drive. It had enough space for my family of four though works fabulously as a second car, has all the safety and tech you’d need and the interiors are ace. Charging the car was easy, even though I did it the slow way, if you owned one you would get a faster charging port installed. 

Then there are the big environmental points you get which makes you feel good driving it. 

I gave it a family rating of 7.9 out of 10, taking half a point off because it still is a bit pricey. My kids gave it an 8.8. They love electric cars.

Built around a carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) tub, the i3s is ultra-light (for a battery-electric vehicle), super strong, and unlike anything else on the road.

At just over 4.0m long, close to 1.8m wide, and a fraction under 1.6m tall, the i3s is compact, upright, and boxy. A classically polarising design, with some crossing the street to avoid it, and others (like me) loving its unique proportions and stand-out styling.

The nose is tall, short and upright, with the distance from the base of the front windscreen to the front axle (car designers call it the ‘dash-to-axle ratio’) unusually short.

That’s because the electric motor sits in the back of the car driving the rear wheels, with only a small front boot compartment required to house charging cables and other bits and pieces.

Despite the lack of anything of substance behind it, BMW’s signature ‘kidney grille’ is present and accounted for, with swoopy LED headlights (and DRLs) either side. Our test car’s ‘Fluid Black’ finish with ‘i Blue’ highlights dialed up the little car’s charismatic personality.  

One of the i3’s most impressive party tricks is its counter-opening ‘clamshell’ doors, and the engineering trickery used to create a B-pillar free side opening (including the strength of the carbon body structure) means the high window line follows a jagged path from front to back, the rearmost hatch windows shrinking the rear glass area appreciably.

The i3s’s standard 20-inch (dual) five-spoke alloy rims, although slightly wider in this performance model, are alarmingly skinny. But taking the car’s relatively light weight (1245kg) and urban-centric purpose into consideration, the narrow, low-rolling resistance rubber makes sense.

With the roofline and sides of the car tapering distinctly towards the back, the rear view is suitably idiosyncratic, highlighted by flush-fit, vaguely U-shaped LED tail-lights. 

The hatch window is small, and the bumper sits high to marry with the load space floor sitting on top of the motor and transmission.

And when it comes to moving inside, BMW offers a choice of three ‘interior worlds - ‘Loft’, ‘Lodge’, and ‘Suite’ - featuring renewable natural fibres, recycled plastics, naturally tanned leather, and open-pore wood (sourced from 100 per cent Forest Stewardship Council-certified forestry).

But irrespective of where everything comes from, the end result is inviting, comfortable and sub-zero cool. Our car’s ‘Suite’ interior was combined with ‘Oak dark matt’ wood, and ‘Vernasca’ brown leather to stunning effect.

A tunnel-free floor, gently curved dash and digital screens for instruments and media let you know you’re in something different and special. It might be six years old, but the i3 still feels contemporary and distinctive. 

The exterior is eye-catching, I had two people stop to ask me what car it was and one person cross the road to talk to me about it. It looks modern and sporty. 

Inside, Nissan's really upped the interior design to give you more value for the dollars you’re paying.

Comfortable leather seats are heated in the front and back, which is rare, and the leather steering wheel feels great to touch and is also heated - a feature we normally miss out on in Australia. 

There’s a blue stitched trim on all the leather and the soft dashboard looks and feels high quality.

The centre console is well designed with an incorporated, large multimedia screen. The rest is kept simple and the result is that you feel really good in the car. 

Wide-opening clamshell doors make getting in and out of the i3s a breeze. But bear in mind you have to open the front door to get to the latch for the back one, which can be a pain.

The driver and front passenger enjoy heaps of room, in an open environment, but there’s only a single cupholder in the centre console, so let the coffee cup wars begin.

Aside from that there are seriously big bins in the front doors, a modest glove box, and a handy elasticised pocket near the floor at the base of the bulkhead.  

Outlets for 12-volt and USB are provided, and there’s a small oddments tray at the rear of the centre console.

Slip around to the rear and you’re in anything but limousine territory. Sitting behind the driver’s seat set for my 183cm height, head and legroom are modest but do-able. And remember it’s two seats only back there.

In terms of storage, there are two cupholders between the seats but no storage pockets or bottle holders in the doors. You won’t find adjustable ventilation outlets either, but that’s not a huge factor in car of this stature.

The boot’s volume is quoted at 260 litres with the 50/50 split-fold rear seatback upright, which is enough to easily swallow the largest 124-litre suitcase in the CarsGuide three-piece set. The smaller 95- and 36-litre cases will sit side-by-side without a problem.

Fold the rear seat down and you have 1100 litres of space at your disposal, with tie-down anchors, an elasticised pocket and 12-volt power provided.

Don’t bother looking for a spare of any description, a repair/inflator kit is your only option. And not surprisingly, the i3 is a no-tow zone. 

There are two cupholders in the front, with a small centre storage bin, and a spot to throw keys and a phone, and a bottle holder in each door.

Rear passengers miss out on air vents and their own cupholders, but that is standard in this category.

It’s at a good height for kids to climb in and out by themselves, but not so great if you have to bend down to fit a baby capsule in.

Charging the car was surprisingly easy, and the charge port opens with a touch of a button on the key. It’s at the front of the car where you normally find the engine (always a novelty not to have an engine) and the parts fit together with a satisfying sound.

Let’s get the important bit out of the way: how does it charge? You can easily charge the Leaf at home, by plugging the cord that comes with it into a regular electricity socket.

This is the slowest way to charge and it will take around 24 hours to get from zero to 100 per cent. But still convenient because if you’ve got a garage or can plug in at work, you can leave it to charge every day.

Nissan claims it will cost around $700 a year at peak times, or just $300 at non-peak. Less again if you have solar panels.

You can also get a home wall connector installed in your garage, so you plug into that instead of a powerpoint and that will take 7.5 hours to charge. Then there is a CHAdeMO connector which only takes one hour to charge. 

And in about a year (end 2020) you’ll be able to pay $2000 for a two-way battery charger, which essentially stores power in the car’s battery and powers your home in off-peak times.

The Nissan Leaf costs $49,990 before on road costs and warranty is Nissan’s standard five year/unlimited km cover. 

Nissan says the (98 per cent recyclable) battery will outlast the car, and vehicle servicing is required every 12months or 20,000km.

It might not look like a conventional sports car, but the BMW i3s certainly accelerates like one, with a claimed 0-100km/h time of 6.9sec. The i3s is a smile-inducing hoot to drive.

Every one of this little hatch’s 270 newton metres of torque is available from the minute you hit the accelerator pedal, and remain in service until 4500rpm, at which point torque delivery drops off a cliff.

But peak power steps in at exactly 7000rpm, so if you’re determined to make that overtaking move you won’t be left in the lurch. In fact, BMW says it only takes the i3s 4.3 seconds to surge from 80km/h to 120km/h.

However, the i3’s forte is 100 per cent the city, rather than the open road. Its ‘point and squirt’ ability making it the perfect partner for the cut and thrust of the urban jungle.

The i3s features an upgraded ‘Sports Suspension’ incorporating firmer dampers, re-tuned springs and revised anti-roll bars. It’s also lowered 10mm, the track is widened (+21mm front / +2.0mm rear) and the wheels go plus one inch to 20-inch alloys.

The standard i3 (no longer offered in Australia) rolls on 19-inch rims shod with 155/70 rubber all around. And while the i3s’s 175/55 front and 190/50 rear tyres are still exceptionally narrow, from the side the low-profile Bridgestone Ecopias look like fan belts wrapped around pulleys rather than tyres around wheels..

No surprise then that ride comfort isn’t exactly cushy, and in signing on for the i3s experience you’ll need to be ready for more than occasional bumps and thumps.

But the pay-off is super-sharp dynamics, Suspension is by alloy struts at the front, and a five-link alloy set-up at the rear..The steering responds to inputs quickly yet smoothly, and with 48/52 front to rear weight distribution, the car always feels balanced, eager, and taut.

And if you really want to dial things up the ‘driving experience control’ allows a switch to Sport mode for a further tweak of the suspension, steering, and traction control set-ups.

A tight 10.3m turning circle makes for easy parking and stress-free U-turns. But if things get too tight, rapid three-point turns are assisted by the gear shift controller bring mounted on a chunky stalk on the right-hand side of the steering column. Too easy.   

Braking is by vented discs front and rear, but they’re tiny. That’s because the ‘Brake Energy Regeneration’ system does most of the work. 

Effectively turning the motor into a generator, the system not only slows the car dramatically but feeds energy to the battery in the process. It takes a while to get used to the sensation, but soon becomes a fun, and surprisingly easy game to use the brake pedal as little as possible… often not at all, for long periods.

With all this, the driving is very smooth and very quiet. There’s no engine, so that’s silent and the only noise you get is from the tyres and the road. So it’s a quiet cabin.

It’s also fast, getting from 0-100km/h in 7.9sec, which makes it super zippy and a pleasure to drive. There’s no issue getting up hills or coasting along highways. 

The gear shifter looks illogical - a small knob that works like a game console controller. It’s tricky to find neutral but drive/reverse and park are easy, and they’re the ones you use the most. 

Like other electric cars, it has regenerative braking which means the car slows to a stop when you take your foot off the accelerator.

It takes some getting used to, and if you really hate it you can switch it off and there is a roll functionality which means it will roll forward once you stop accelerating. 

But how far can you go on a full charge? The claim is 315km.

I got the car at 90 per cent charged on a Friday. By Tuesday it was down to 75 per cent with local driving over the weekend. Then I drove from Sydney's Eastern Suburbs down to the Sutherland Shire and back - by which time it was at 50 per cent.

So, that’s 25 per cent of charge used up driving for about 100 minutes. Which would mean you couldn’t take it on a long road trip. Great if you’re using the car for city and suburban driving or as a second car, but not so good for going away. 

However, Nissan is working with Chargefox, a company installing EV charging infrastructure around the country, and there are 100 fast chargers and 22 ultra rapid chargers to be in place by the end of 2019, connecting Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Adelaide. So you’ll be able to stop and charge on a road trip. 

Parking is easy with a forward camera, reverse camera and 360 degree camera. 

It comes with all the advanced safety equipment you would want in 2019 including auto emergency braking with forward collision warning, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert, among other things.

There are six airbags and two ISOFIX points plus three top tether points for kids car seats and it scores a maximum five star ANCAP rating on the strict 2019 test.