Nissan e-NV200 Combi (2014-2022) reliability & safety

While the e-NV200 Combi has Nissan's latest 40kWh battery, the rest of its running gear is feeling rather old these days. It uses the same platform as the NV200 diesel van, while the electric motor is from the first-generation Leaf. This should mean the e-NV200 Combi is reliable, though it’s not offered with the latest safety kit you get with the latest Leaf.

Nissan e-NV200 Combi reliability & problems

While low sales numbers mean the e-NV200 Combi failed to show up in the latest Driver Power satisfaction survey, Nissan as a brand did finish a respectable 11th in the top 30 manufacturers' rundown. There is some insight into how reliable the e-NV200 will be, however, courtesy of a small taxi firm in Cornwall. C&C Taxis in St Austell has been running a Combi since 2014 and has racked up over 100,000 trouble-free miles in that time. It was so impressed with the Combi’s performance that it has since converted its entire fleet to Combis and Leafs.

And if something should happen, there are a variety of warranties covering different parts of the Combi. The MPV itself gets Nissan’s standard five-year warranty, while the electric running gear gets eight years of cover. That includes a guarantee against capacity loss on the battery – it'll be replaced if the charge meter doesn’t climb above nine bars (out of 12) when the e-NV200 is fully charged.

Safety

Euro NCAP crash-tested the e-NV200 Combi in 2014, when it earned a three-star rating. This was a decidedly average score at the time and the test has been made even tougher since then, so it’s likely the Nissan would score even lower if it was tested today. Adult occupant protection was rated at 75% and it managed a respectable 80% for child protection. Pedestrian safety was 60% (probably not helped by the charging hardware mounted in the nose of the Combi) and the car received a 38% score for its safety assistance features.

Six airbags are fitted as standard, with driver and passenger bags and two pairs of curtain airbags for the doors. All cars get electronic stability control, tyre-pressure monitoring and anti-lock brakes, while there's a pair of ISOFIX child-seat brackets in the rear bench. Cruise control with a manual speed limiter is offered on the Acenta and Evalia versions, but there are none of the advanced autonomous driving aids that Nissan has rolled out with the latest Leaf.