Nissan Leaf or Volkswagen e-Golf: the batteries compared
What the advert doesn’t say: capacity by version, the manufacturer’s warranty, and what a failure would cost.
The essentials
- Biggest battery: Nissan Leaf, up to 62 kWh, against 35.8 kWh (Volkswagen e-Golf).
- Battery warranty: the same terms, 8 years or 100,000 miles.
- New pack: the same order of magnitude, about €9,000.
- Cheapest to charge: Volkswagen e-Golf, from £6.52 per 100 miles at home, against £7.24 (Nissan Leaf).
- Module-by-module repair: feasible on each of these models.
Side by side
| Criterion | Nissan Leaf | Volkswagen e-Golf |
|---|---|---|
| On sale | 2010 – 2024 | 2014 – 2020 |
| Battery capacity | 24 · 30 · 40 · 62 kWh | 24.2 · 35.8 kWh |
| Chemistry | LMO, NMC | NMC |
| Battery warranty | 2011 – 2015: 5 years or 60,000 miles since 2016: 8 years or 100,000 miles | 8 years or 100,000 miles |
| Repairable module by module | Yes | Yes |
| Replacing one module | €400 – €1,500 | €500 – €1,500 |
| New pack, order of magnitude | ≈ €9,000 | ≈ €9,000 |
| WLTP consumption | 3.0 – 3.6 miles/kWh | 3.9 – 4.0 miles/kWh |
| Home charging, per 100 miles | £7.24 – £10.91 | £6.52 – £8.42 |
| Battery lease | On some model years | Never |
| Going further |
Capacity: every version sold under that name. Warranty: terms recorded for the UK, by year of first registration. Prices: orders of magnitude recorded in France, in euros, never quotes. Charging: from the most frugal version on the cheapest tariff to the thirstiest in real-world use.
Before you choose
A table compares models; you buy a car. Capacity depends on the version, the warranty on the date of first registration, and the state of health on the life the battery has had. The checker answers for one specific car: remaining warranty, expected state of health, cost of a failure.