Nissan Micra review (2025 - 2025)
Nissan Micra cars for sale
4.0
Expert review
Pros
Great to drive
Smart interior
Comfortable ride
Cons
Lacks the Renault 5's wow factor
Citroen e-C3 has a more spacious boot
Rear doors could open wider
The CarGurus verdict
The Nissan Micra is a great little car. It looks really cute, there are some cool colours to choose from, and it’s fun yet comfortable to drive. It’ll be a peachy little EV to live with. But it is hard to work out quite why you’d buy it over the Renault 5, which has even more wow factor on account of its styling.
With rivals like the Hyundai Inster also offering more radical styling and interior versatility, the Micra’s got its work cut out to get a foothold in this class. Ultimately, the electric Nissan Micra is really good, but it’ll need to undercut its key rivals on price if it’s to temp buyers away from (arguably) more desirable alternatives.
What is the Nissan Micra?
The Nissan Micra has been a household name for many decades. Introduced in 1982, the earlier K10 and K11 versions were particularly highly regarded, and became default cars for those who wanted affordable, reliable and surprisingly fun motoring. Now, this new, sixth generation model is here – and it’s a battery electric vehicle. There will be no petrol option, so if you’re after a small, piston-engine car then you’ll need to look to alternatives like the Hyundai i20 or VW Polo. There’s been a huge influx of small electric cars in the past year or so, meaning that the Micra now has to compete with the Hyundai Inster, BYD Dolphin and BYD Dolphin Surf, Peugeot e-208, Fiat Grande Panda, Vauxhall Frontera and the Citroen e-C3, among others.
Taking style inspiration from the bug-eyed Mk3 Micra, this new electric Micra is just under 4-metres long. Being based on the same ‘AmpR Small’ platform as the Renault 5, it gets the same 2,540mm wheelbase, although at 3,974mm long overall it’s a whole 5cm longer than the Renault.
Nissan is unashamed of the fact that the new, electric Micra is simply a restyled version of the Renault 5. The R5 is, after all, the best car in its class and has been a big hit since it arrived, so why fix what ain’t broke? Nissan hasn’t even changed the suspension tune, never mind the powertrain.
That means that you’ve got a 40kWh lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery that gives a WLTP range of up to 192 miles, or a 52kWh lithium-ion NMC battery that will likely be the more popular option with its official range of 253 miles.
How practical is it?
The new Nissan Micra is practical enough for a small car, that’s for sure. You’ll get a couple of average-sized adults in the back seats so, while there’s not much foot space under the seats in front and there’s no centre armrest, it’ll be fine for the kids. The 326-litre boot is a decent size, but there’s a big drop over the high load lip and down to the boot floor, and the seats leave a step up when they’re folded. It’s still one of the biggest boots in the class, and there’s a bit of underfloor storage for charging cables, so by small car standards the Micra’s boot is pretty good. Even so, it’s also fair to say that a Citroen e-C3 or Hyundai Inster (though it has a smaller overall boot capacity) has a more well thought-out boot layout.
Up front, the dash is – again – all recognisably Renault 5. It feels smart, and if you go for the top-spec model you even get interior trim inspired by a Japanese zen garden. There’s also an outline of Mount Fuji in the centre console, which is cute but some might argue also a bit ironic given that the Nissan Micra is made in France…
What’s it like to drive?
We’ve had a quick drive in a prototype version of the Nissan Micra at a European Car of the Year event, and I can confirm that it drives just like the Renault 5. I know – who’d have thought it?! To be serious, here, that’s no bad thing. The Renault is brilliant to drive, and so is the Micra. Go for the 52kWh Nissan Micra that we tried, and you get a 152bhp electric motor driving the front wheels (the Micra is front-wheel drive, only). The smaller battery will make do with a 121bhp electric motor, meaning that the Micra will do 0-62mph in 8.0- or 9.0 seconds depending on which battery you go for.
It's got a lovely balance of compliant yet neatly controlled suspension, a keen turn-in when you swing into corners, light but precise steering… It all feels fun yet unintimidating, and more than composed enough to be an easy motorway driver if you need it to be. It’s fun and sprightly, yet also easy to drive.
The Micra also gets three-level brake regen’, which is controllable via paddles on the steering wheel – something that the Renault 5, with its more basic regen’ and no paddles – doesn’t yet offer. The Micra’s system is nice and smooth, with predictable responses as you modulate the throttle regardless of which mode you’re in. It’s a great feature to have, as it means you can use the regen’ almost as you would downshifts in an automatic petrol- or diesel car.
It's worth pointing out that Renault has already said that the 5 will get the same brake regen’ system in the near future.
Technology, equipment & infotainment
We’re still waiting on confirmed UK pricing and equipment lineup for the Micra, but we do know that it’ll have three trim levels – Engage, Advance and Evolve. All will get a suite of advanced safety assist systems including adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist and autonomous emergency braking. All will also come with a large touchscreen infotainment system with Google Maps and other Google app functionality, which is easy to use and usefully better than many other native satnav systems that car manufacturers use. You also get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so that you can stream… er, Google Maps?
We’re also told that heated seats will be optional on the mid-spec Nissan Micra, which is great news as it’s a big frustration with the Renault 5 that you have to go for the top-spec trim to get heated seats.
We also know that – as with the Renault – you’ll only be able to have the 40kWh battery in the base Engage trim, while Advance will be offered with both batteries, and the top-spec Nissan Micra Evolve will only have the 52kWh battery. Vehicle-to-load charging will be optional across the range.
Nissan Micra running costs
We don’t know what pricing for the Micra will be, but it’s going to have to be equivalent- or less than the Renault 5 if it’s to compete. Expect to see list prices from under £23,000, while the 52kWh Micra will likely cost from under £27,000, with prices stretching up to around £29,000 for the top-spec Evolve model. It’ll be the monthly finance and lease prices that really make or break the Micra; if it doesn’t come in at around £250- to £300 per month with a fairly low deposit, Nissan’s in trouble…
We’d estimate that real-world range will be around 170- to 230 miles from the 52kWh Nissan Micra, although that’s based on our experience of the Renault 5 since our brief prototype drive of the Micra wasn’t representative of daily driving.
Nissan Micra reliability
The Micra is too new for us to know much about reliability. It comes with a three-year, 60,000-mile vehicle warranty, while the battery is covered for eight years and 100,000 miles; a bit underwhelming next to the longer warranties from Hyundai, Kia and BYD.
As an overall brand, Nissan came a disappointing 25th out of 31 manufacturers surveyed in the 2025 What Car? Reliability Survey. Renault, however, came 9th.
- Rapid charging is up to 100kW for the 52kWh Nissan Micra, or 80kW for the 40kWh model, meaning that both are capable of a 10-80% charge in around 30 minutes. However, as a more understandable metric, to add around 100 miles of range will take about 30 minutes in the smaller battery Micra, or 20 minutes in the bigger battery model, all assuming you’re attached to a suitable powerful rapid charger.
- The Micra’s charging flap is on the front wing of the car, just behind the front wheel, which may be annoying as you’ll have to drive nose-first into some charging bays. It charges via a CCS and Type 2 socket, which is the European standard socket-type and is compatible with all home car chargers, and almost all public chargers. AC charging is up to 11kW, but most UK homes can only support a 7kW charger, which will fully charge the Micra in between six- and nine hours.
- All Nissan Micra models get a standard heat pump for more efficient cold weather running.
- If you want the best value: We’d go for the mid-spec 52kWh Nissan Micra Advance, as it’ll likely get all the equipment you want – plus, you can add heated seats. That seems the best balance of value and comfort, to us, and it’ll no doubt hold its value better than the small battery Micra, too.
- If you want the best company car: If you’re paying Benefit-in-Kind tax as an employee, then you may as well go for the top-spec Micra Evolve if your company will allow it. Tax payments are still extremely low on electric cars, so it’s a marginal additional amount. If you’re on a salary sacrifice or other work scheme, then – as above – stick with the mid-spec 52kWh Advance model.
- If you want the most fun: There’s no word on whether Nissan will do a hot version of the Micra, as Alpine has with its Renault 5-based Alpine A290. It seems unlikely, to be honest, so maybe just buy the Alpine instead.
- If you want the best family car: Again, go for the mid-spec Evolve and add the heated seats, so that you can at least have a warm bum to distract you while the kids argue in the back seats.
