The electric car that caught most of the attention from the press lately is Nissan Leaf, presented as being the first mass-market electric car. The Netherlands will be the country that Nissan is going to sell it first, probably because of the country’s green orientation. The unveiling will take place in December this year.
If you live in Holland and want to reserve your electric Nissan Leaf, you will be able to do it starting July. The price will be under 30,000 euros after various government incentives. All the rest of major west European countries will be able to order it by the end of next year.
“Nissan leads the industry by being the first automaker to offer an affordable zero-emission car,” said Simon Thomas, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, adding the price will include the cost of a lithium battery.
The Dutch will be able to purchase the car for 32,839 euros, a price to be reduced by 6,000 to 19,000 euros by extra government subsidies. Leaf has an autonomy of 160 km per charge and can be filled up to 80 percent in 30 minutes. Top speed exceeds 140 km/h, which makes the car perfect for commuting and near-city family trips on weekends.
As battery technology evolves, we may see electric Leafs upgrading the storage, or Nissan implementing other methods of powering the car: hydrogen fuel cells, bigger batteries or even solar panels on it. It’s a nice price, for a start. That proves it can be done and Nissan is an ice breaker at this chapter.
