Welcome to the revolution. That’s right. the Nissan Leaf, the 2011 European Car of the Year, is that important, heralding as it does a whole new way in powering automobiles.

Forget petrol and diesel. Forget hybrids. This is an electrical-powered car, and although it still has some way to evolve before it becomes a car of choice for the average man or woman, believe me it’s on the right road.

It has shortcomings. The £30,000 price tag is expensive and the 120 mile range is too short. But you can ‘fill up’ a full charge for £2 which takes you 110 miles, which compares to £20 or more for a conventional car.

That fact alone means electrical cars have a future and the Leaf is our first proper look at this form. It is the first of four electric vehicles from Nissan and its upmarket sister Infiniti.

The electric car as a concept has been around virtually as long as the internal combustion-engined version, but where the latter has been an immeasurably successful the former has never really left the starting grid.

But the Nissan Leaf is different. Production has already started, dealers are all geared up and customers have laid down deposits. There really is no going back now. For the first time before the early vehicles reach their new homes, Nissan has allowed journalists to drive the most up-to-date production versions in a completely normal environment – not on a test track or closed road but in the heart of the city, in this case Sheffield.

Leaf looks pretty much like any other Mondeo-sized hatchback, but it is a little quirky. There are some curves and hard edges that are untypical of a regular-sized family hatch such as this. There is sound reasoning behind this though, as firstly anything too radical may alienate potential buyers but more importantly the need to make the Leaf as aerodynamically efficient as possible.

The lack of an internal combustion engine means a cut in noise, which therefore makes any road or wind noise much more noticeable. The sharp creases at the front and the rear cleave the air cleanly and minimise wind noise. Climb inside and it is a little more conventional. If you ignore the instrument display for a moment, you have a five-seat hatch with a typical layout.

It is worth mentioning that the light cream colour of the cabin is refreshingly bright and suits the car’s alternative ethic, and quality is very good too. It feels a cut above the standard in this segment. It’s also well equipped. The single model gets climate control, satellite navigation and a good quality audio system.

Where the Leaf starts to differ from a regular car begins with the instrument display. At the top there is a conventional digital speedometer and clock, but below that there is no rev counter or engine temperature gauge. Instead there is a battery temperature gauge – in the middle is ideal for best performance, and on the opposite side there is the equivalent of your fuel tank: the remaining charge. Alongside the range display, this is the crucial bit of information that tells you how far you can travel without plugging in. For sceptics this is the key issue with electric cars, but Nissan has worked hard to deal with this ‘range anxiety’.

Firstly the battery meter is backed up by a range-to-empty display which is updating to give an accurate picture. There’s no physical gearbox although you shift between P, R and D for forward, reverse and park, but there is the option of an Eco mode which puts the air-con into a frugal mode, ramps up the regeneration. Punch a button on the sat-nav and it will put two circles around your current location, giving you a conservative and a more optimistic radius of how far you can travel on the charge, plus all nearby charging points.

You as the driver can also have a good deal of influence on how far you can go. For starters, before you even leave the comfort of you charging point you can communicate with the car via smartphone, allowing you to check the charge status, set it to charge at a specific time or even set the air conditioning working to cool or heat the car before being unplugged – therefore saving a little more juice for driving. Once on the go, the Leaf encourages you to eek out every extra mile.

The top of the display indicates the power demands. With the electric motors harnessing the car’s motion rather than providing it they can add charge back into the battery. The Leaf even indicates how well you’re doing by awarding you ‘trees’ in the instrument display as you go.

A test such as this indicates just how much development has gone into the Leaf, and also just how ready it is for the sternest test of all: the customers.

* Electric vehicle drivers do not have to pay for a tax disc, are exempt from the London congestion charge and can park for free in some cities. Company car drivers can save more, as the Leaf does not attract any Benefit-In-Kind liability.