I don’t think an electric car suits my lifestyle. My daily commute is only 12 miles but, when I arrive at my destination, there is nowhere to recharge the battery and that means that I have to charge it when I get home. The problem there, though, is that I don’t have a drive and that places limitations on how, when and for how long I can charge my EV.

That’s fine when I’m just commuting, but longer journeys mean longer charging times and that’s when I start to run into trouble. The Nissan Leaf, reviewed here this week, requires in excess of a full day to to complete a full charge from zero to 100 per cent on a domestic supply. Not, of course, that you should, or would, ever allow your battery to run flat, but you see my point.

So, now you know the reasons I wouldn’t buy an EV, I’m going to give the Leaf the opportunity to change my mind and convince me that ownership wouldn’t quite be the difficult experience I’m anticipating.

The Leaf arrive on these shores in 2011 and was, literally and figuratively, a breath of fresh air. Unlike other all-electric offerings it looked like a proper car and possessed the performance to match, with decent acceleration and a top speed that wouldn’t embarrass you on a motorway.

The second-generation Leaf driven here is a much better proposition in every way: It’s faster with a significantly greater range, more sophisticated to drive and bigger inside.

The Leaf has a high, MPV-like driving position and, as the steering wheel only adjusts for rake, not reach, you could find yourself forced to sit either closer to, or further away from, the wheel than is ideal.

You wouldn’t describe the interior as inspiring, but it is thoughtfully laid out and, with the exception of a few hard-to-reach places, the material quality is more than acceptable for a car at this price point, and certainly on a par with its rivals.

The stubby drive selector, which functions like a joystick, suits the seamlessness of the electric powertrain perfectly and is one of the few nods to the Leaf’s electric powertrain in the cabin. Outside the only clues are the “zero emission” badges and, if you listen carefully, the total silence.

Visibility out the front is excellent but the chunky A-pillars can obscure your view at junctions. The view out of the rear three-quarters isn’t as good as it could be, but that is mitigated a little by the inclusion of a rear-view camera as standard right across the range.

Step up from the entry-level Acenta trim and N-Connecta and Tekna models are fitted with 360-degree cameras that display a bird’s eye-view of your surroundings on the seven-inch – eight on Tekna trim – touchscreen in the centre of the dash.

The firm’s NissanConnect EV software powers the navigation and infotainment system. It’s easy to use thanks to its intuitive layout. There are physical shortcut buttons located either side of the display that make it simple to switch between functions and chunky dials for the volume, power and zoom and select.

The resolution of the screen is a little disappointing, however, and it can be difficult to read in bright conditions.

Sat-nav, DAB radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring are standard across the range. Tekna and e+ Tekna trims are fitted with a Bose stereo but don’t expect rich, lush acoustics because you’ll be a tad disappointed. You also have to sacrifice a small chunk of the boot to accommodate the amplifier and sub-woofer.

There’s plenty of room for front-seat passengers. Despite the high-mounted seating position headroom is plentiful and only the very tallest of people should have any complaints about legroom.

Passengers in the back will enjoy the amount of legroom available but the same can’t be said for headroom, which is in rather short supply. I’m a smidgeon over six-feet tall and the roof lining wreaked havoc on my carefully coiffed hair.

The door bins in the front are a good size, there’s a small cubby in front of the drive selector and a pair of cupholders between the front seats. The door bins in the back are considerably less practical than those in the front.

Boot capacity is 420 litres with the 60-40 split-folding seats in place, rising to 1,161 litres with them stowed away. Unfortunately, it isn’t particularly well designed, with a huge lip down to the boot floor that makes loading and unloading heavier items difficult and a floor that has a significant step in it when you fold the rear seats down.

It’s eerily hushed in the cabin, largely because there is no combustion engine chuntering away beneath the bonnet to disturb the peace. That said, the Leaf does generate a bit of road and wind noise but it’s never too intrusive.

The Leaf is not, unsurprisingly, Tesla-quick, but it is certainly no slouch. The e+ Tekna reviewed here boasts a 62kWh battery which is capable of propelling the car to 62mph in a respectable 7.3 seconds. Top speed is 98mph and, although that sounds a little low in the grand scheme of things, remember it is still enough to break the law, even on a motorway.

The feel of the regenerative braking does require a little getting used to. When you lift your foot off the accelerator the car will slow down markedly as the brakes harvest energy to recharge the battery. You can increase this effect by moving the drive selector to B mode, or take it even further by pressing the e-Pedal button between the seats. So effective is this mode at slowing the car that you will rarely have to touch the brake pedal.

The 62kWh Leaf driven here rides 5mm higher than the 40kWh version to accommodate the larger battery. The suspension is quite soft and a bit fidgety around town, although it deals with potholes with very little fuss, but on faster dual carriageways it’s unsettled and across undulating roads you’ll notice a fair degree of wallowing from front to back.

This is no hot hatch, but its performance is far from tepid. Body roll is reasonably well controlled in bends – aided by a relatively low centre of gravity – and it boasts nicely-weighted, precise, steering. It boasts decent composure along tight and twisty roads, even when the going gets a little bumpy.

The prospect of not having to experience the pain of filling up the fuel pumps is an enticing one but, bear in mind, you’ll have to cover a lot of miles in the Leaf before you start to see a return on your investment. If you do plump for a Leaf, you’ll be getting a practical, well-equipped EV that is also reasonable to drive.

Nissan Leaf e+ Tekna

Price: £35,895

As tested: £36,820

Battery: 62kWh

Transmission: automatic

Max power: 217PS

Max torque: 340Nm

Max speed: 98mph

0-62mph: 7.3sec

Consumption: 180Wh/km

Range (WLTP) combined: 239 miles

Range (WLTP) city: 319 miles

For more information visit www.nissan.co.uk