Nissan LEAF Is Sold Out for 2010

http://www.ecogeek.org/component/content/article/3176
Written by Megan Treacy on 28/05/10

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Great news for Nissan and the electric car: the company has received 19,000 preorders for the LEAF all-electric vehicle, making it sold out for this year. The demand has exceeded expectations and the company may have to temporarily stop taking reservations.

Preorders for the LEAF began in April in the U.S. and Japan with the car not arriving at dealerships until the end of the year. Nissan hopes to sell 500,000 EVs starting in 2013.

This enthusiastic response to the LEAF bodes well for other all-electrics that will make their debut within the next couple of years, though it's not clear whether this signals a good market for the Chevy Volt when it comes out later this year.

From this ecogeek's perspective, the LEAF has a winning combination of factors that will make it successful. People are ready for an all-electric that meets their needs (it has a 100-mile range and can go up to 90 mph), is not super tiny (it's no smart car) and they can afford (it's about $25,000 after the federal tax credit and some states are taking even more off the top).

Because in a lot of ways this is the first truly consumer-ready EV, Nissan may get a lot of glory, but the company will also bear a lot of weight on their shoulders as a broader array of drivers get into EVs and go through the growing pains of this technology and the growing infrastructure to support it. Here's hoping there's more glory than pain.

via NY Times