Well, the transmission tunnel in any BMW/Merc on the road effectively makes the rear middle seat a child or dwarf only proposition. No difference in my eyes.

There's a group test of the Ampera vs Leaf vs Prius vs Audi 2.0 TDI in the very latest AutoExpress.

The Ampera gave a test average of 73mpg (including all the performance testing etc). The conclusion was, if you're not doing 100+ miles journeys every day, it will deliver this sort of economy day in, day out.

You do need to plug it in & recharge every night in order to get the best out of it, though.

Autocar got a test average of 54mpg but stated they didn't get to plug it in every night. You spend about £1 per overnight charge, appara.

From the Ampera review here:

"Practicality is more or less unaffected by the electric drivetrain components."

I'd have said that only having two seats in the back due to its having the battery mounted down the middle is a massive negative effect on practicality. Certainly it's off my list of "things I might consider" for that very reason.

Excluding MPVs there are very few cars with a comfortable seat in the middle of the second row - so for most people it may not be that much of a loss.