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Have You Looked at Nissan's Electric Leaf Yet?
- By Rob May
- Published 28 February 2010
- Automotive
- Unrated
Inspite of the recent fiasco of Toyota’s massive recall of the hybrid vehicle, Prius, the owners of Prius have actually given a thumbs-up to the car. This is an indicator of customer interest in adopting newer and greener technologies across the world. Customer confidence in trying out electric cars is also at an all time high.
All this makes electric market space a hot and happening segment where the customer enthusiasm is driving research and preparations at all the major automotive manufacturing units across the Globe.
Given this backdrop of recent happenings in the automotive world and the continuous research into manufacturing of mass-market electric cars that can be sold and sustained commercially, we look into an electric car that is supposed to change the electric car market space for all times to come.
Nissan is into development of an electric car that is named Leaf. And it has successfully generated a buzz for the product even before the bookings are open.
So, let me provide you with a few details on the car. Nissan’s Leaf is expected to be marketed sometime in the last half of the year. The car affords good seating capacity as it is a 5 seater and it boasts of being 100% electric with no emissions to thwart the endangered green cover. It has a mileage of 100 miles, meaning that it can run for 100 miles on a single electric charge. The mileage makes Nissan a compelling case because it allows consumers to drive the car without a re-charge for quite a distance.
Nissan is working overtime to ensure that home charging stations and complete charging networks are built ahead of time in Residential and Metropolitan areas to afford ease of charging the car at your home or abundantly available charging stations. After all, an electric car sans adequate number of charging stations is a recipe for disaster, and Nissan is not letting anything to come in the way of ‘Leaf’s’ launch and subsequent success in the form of customer confidence.
To interact with the consumers and to increase the buzz for the product, Nissan has also conducted a tour of the ‘Leaf’ across 18 cities that are slated to adopt electric car charging stations. Whether it was San Diego or San Jose, the interest was overwhelming across all cities. If the initial euphoria turns into ‘committed interest’ then Nissan may be laughing all the way to the Bank. It looks all the more promising for Nissan given the slight disadvantage that Toyota is fighting with. On top of this, there are no major threats to the product as of now. If there are any, then Leaf’s mileage makes it a hit already.
The reservations for Leaf will begin in April and confirmed orders shall be taken from August. The car is expected to be delivered in the last few months of this year. Most analysts believe that deliveries in the US will commence from December.
However, Nissan has yet to come up with a pricing model of the car. I am not sure if this is a part of Nissan’s calculated strategy to win over more customers or if this is an extension of their cautious optimism before the reservations begin. Some analysts will even say that delayed pricing disclosure is to generate more buzz for the product, though I think that Nissan has been very successful in generating the right noises for its new product already.
Until reservations for the car begin in April, people can hope to catch a glimpse of the car on Nissan Leaf’s website.
All this makes electric market space a hot and happening segment where the customer enthusiasm is driving research and preparations at all the major automotive manufacturing units across the Globe.
Given this backdrop of recent happenings in the automotive world and the continuous research into manufacturing of mass-market electric cars that can be sold and sustained commercially, we look into an electric car that is supposed to change the electric car market space for all times to come.
Nissan is into development of an electric car that is named Leaf. And it has successfully generated a buzz for the product even before the bookings are open.
So, let me provide you with a few details on the car. Nissan’s Leaf is expected to be marketed sometime in the last half of the year. The car affords good seating capacity as it is a 5 seater and it boasts of being 100% electric with no emissions to thwart the endangered green cover. It has a mileage of 100 miles, meaning that it can run for 100 miles on a single electric charge. The mileage makes Nissan a compelling case because it allows consumers to drive the car without a re-charge for quite a distance.
Nissan is working overtime to ensure that home charging stations and complete charging networks are built ahead of time in Residential and Metropolitan areas to afford ease of charging the car at your home or abundantly available charging stations. After all, an electric car sans adequate number of charging stations is a recipe for disaster, and Nissan is not letting anything to come in the way of ‘Leaf’s’ launch and subsequent success in the form of customer confidence.
To interact with the consumers and to increase the buzz for the product, Nissan has also conducted a tour of the ‘Leaf’ across 18 cities that are slated to adopt electric car charging stations. Whether it was San Diego or San Jose, the interest was overwhelming across all cities. If the initial euphoria turns into ‘committed interest’ then Nissan may be laughing all the way to the Bank. It looks all the more promising for Nissan given the slight disadvantage that Toyota is fighting with. On top of this, there are no major threats to the product as of now. If there are any, then Leaf’s mileage makes it a hit already.
The reservations for Leaf will begin in April and confirmed orders shall be taken from August. The car is expected to be delivered in the last few months of this year. Most analysts believe that deliveries in the US will commence from December.
However, Nissan has yet to come up with a pricing model of the car. I am not sure if this is a part of Nissan’s calculated strategy to win over more customers or if this is an extension of their cautious optimism before the reservations begin. Some analysts will even say that delayed pricing disclosure is to generate more buzz for the product, though I think that Nissan has been very successful in generating the right noises for its new product already.
Until reservations for the car begin in April, people can hope to catch a glimpse of the car on Nissan Leaf’s website.
Rob May
Rob May is an automotive expert who writes on subjects ranging from new automotive products, research, fuel conservation and electric cars. He suggests using fuel cards as a way to conserve your fuel bills. You can get a fuel card for your business at www.businessfuelcards.co.uk.
View all articles by Rob May