Compare the2023 Nissan LeafVS 2023 MINI Cooper SE

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Leaf have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The MINI Cooper SE doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Leaf are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The MINI Cooper SE doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Leaf are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Leaf has standard Active Head Restraints, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Active Head Restraints system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Leaf has standard Rear Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Leaf SV PLUS has a standard Around View® Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Cooper SE only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

The Leaf’s blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Leaf’s standard rear cross-path warning system uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.

Both the Leaf and the Cooper SE have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available daytime running lights and driver alert monitors.

Nissan’s powertrain warranty covers the Leaf 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than MINI covers the Cooper SE. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Cooper SE ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are over 10 times as many Nissan dealers as there are MINI dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Leaf’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Nissan vehicles are better in initial quality than MINI vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Nissan above average in initial quality. With 1 more problems per 100 vehicles, MINI is rated lower.

The Leaf’s standard electric motor produces 37 lbs.-ft. more torque (236 vs. 199) than the Cooper SE’s electric motor. The Leaf PLUS’ standard electric motor produces 33 more horsepower (214 vs. 181) and 51 lbs.-ft. more torque (250 vs. 199) than the Cooper SE’s electric motor.

On the EPA test cycle the Leaf with its standard motor gets better mileage than the Cooper SE (123 city/99 hwy vs. 119 city/100 hwy MPGe).

The Leaf can travel longer on a full charge than the Cooper SE on a full charge:

The Leaf’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Cooper SE are solid, not vented.

For better traction, the Leaf has larger standard tires than the Cooper SE (205/55R16 vs. 195/55R16). The Leaf SV PLUS’ tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Cooper SE (215/50R17 vs. 205/45R17).

The Leaf has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Leaf’s wheelbase is 8.1 inches longer than on the Cooper SE (106.3 inches vs. 98.2 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Leaf is 2 inches wider in the front and 2.2 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Cooper SE.

The design of the Nissan Leaf amounts to more than styling. The Leaf has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .28 Cd. That is lower than the Cooper SE (.3) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Leaf get better fuel mileage.

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Leaf a Mid-size car, while the Cooper SE is rated a Subcompact.

The Leaf has standard seating for 5 passengers; the Cooper SE can only carry 4.

The Leaf has 12.1 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Cooper SE (92.4 vs. 80.3).

The Leaf has .9 inches more front headroom, .7 inches more front legroom, 3.7 inches more front shoulder room, .4 inches more rear headroom, 2.7 inches more rear legroom and 4.7 inches more rear shoulder room than the Cooper SE.

The Leaf’s standard power windows have a locking feature to keep children from operating them. MINI does not offer a locking feature on the Cooper SE’s standard power windows.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Leaf has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the Cooper SE only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

While driving with high beams on, sensitive light sensors standard on the Leaf detect other vehicles which could be blinded and automatically switch to low beams. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer automatic dimming high beams.

Consumer Reports® chose the Nissan Leaf as its “Top Pick,” the highest scoring vehicle in its category, based on reliability, safety and performance.