Nissan has launched in the United Kingdom a flexible subscription service featuring a simple all-in-one monthly payment for its EVs, Leaf, and Ariya, and the hybrid Qashqai e-POWER, with 800 miles (1 287 km) per month included. But it doesn’t always come as a bargain.

Prices start as ‘low’ as £645/mth (€755) for the Leaf 39kWh Tekna based on a 24-months subscription with three months (£789 – €923) as the shortest term and the possibility to switch to other models during the contract period. You can customize the mileage to suit your mobility needs anytime, starting at £37,99/mth extra for 1 000 miles up to £299,99/mth for 2 000 miles.

With a few clicks online

The whole process is done online in a few clicks. To sign up, customers create a profile and provide a scan of their driving license before choosing their car, arranging payment, and confirming a delivery date. Delivery at home will cost you an extra £199 (€232).

For Nissan’s top EV, the Ariya 87 kWh EVOLVE prices range from £995/mth (€1 164) for a year to £ 1 189/mth (€1 1391) for three months and 800 miles included. Extending your mileage is possible at the same monthly extras as for the Leaf.

If you compare with leasing prices in Belgium for a Nissan Ariya 63kWh Advance at ALD/LeasePlan, for instance, starting at € 1 113/mth, that isn’t a bargain at first sight. But here you’re bound hand and foot minimally at a 36-months contract (and 10 000 km) with painful penalty clauses if you decide to turn it in sooner.

Pouring in gasoline

The Qashqai e-POWER N-Connecta is the cheapest option starting at £645 (€754) to £775 (€907) per month to drive ‘an electric’ Nissan, ‘without having to plug in’. Again, the same prices apply for extending your mileage to 1 000 or 2 000 miles.

But don’t be fooled by the misleading advertising of the brand, as the electric motors are fed by a constantly turning combustion engine that acts as a generator. You still have to pour in gasoline. And this one consumes hardy less than the ICE version.

Lynk & Co alternative?

It’s still quite expensive compared to a Lynk & Co 001 PHEV, which can drive 70 km purely electric before needing its gasoline engine. The latter is offered in Belgium and the Netherlands, among others, at €550 per month with 1 250 km included and the possibility to end your subscription at any time with a two-week notice.

Still, Lynk & Co, the brainchild of its Belgian CEO Alain Visser who tends to revolutionize the ‘ownership’ of cars into a sharing model, isn’t present in the UK yet. Visser plans to cross over from Gothenburg, Sweden, where Lynck & Co is headquartered, in 2024 with a full-electric option. That might have triggered Nissan UK to forge ahead with its own subscription service.