Five years and more than 35,000 European sales since the launch of the Leaf, data released by Nissan shows that 99.99 percent of its battery units remain fit for purpose.

The failure rate of the battery power unit is less than 0.01 percent - or just three units in total - which the company says is a fraction of the equivalent industry-wide figure for defects affecting traditional combustion engines.

Electric vehicle advocate and presenter of online TV channel Fully Charged, Robert Llewellyn said: "This comes as no surprise. There was a lot of apprehension about electric technology in the beginning, but with sales climbing month-on-month I struggle to see how these myths continue to be regurgitated today."

The Nissan Leaf saw a 33 percent increase in sales in 2014 over the previous year, taking more than a quarter of the burgeoning electric car market with 15,098 sales.

Jean-Pierre Diernaz, director of electric vehicles for Nissan in Europe, added: "The facts speak for themselves. The rate of battery faults in our vehicles is negligible, even the most ardent critic cannot argue with that.

"The battery technology is just part of our success story. With over 165,000 customers globally, it's clear that we're not the only people who are thrilled by the success of this state-of-the-art technology."

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