Nissan has begun the first deliveries of their Nissan Leaf electric vehicle to customers in Britain. The first two Nissan Leafs were delivered to their owners from one of the company’s distribution centers, Glyn Hopkins Nissan, in Waltham Abby on March 22.
The Leaf is being marketed as the world’s first all-electric, zero-emission vehicle for the mass market. A five-door hatchback, it can run for 100 miles on a single charge.
Global sales began in the United States and Japan in December. Britain is the third European country to begin deliveries of the Nissan Leaf after Portugal in December and Ireland in February. Sales in the Netherlands are expected to start in June.
Nissan has a total network of 26 electric vehicle dealers across Britain that will be starting deliveries later this week.
Price fluctuations
The initial price of the Leaf in Britain was £28,350, subject to an incentive from Britain’s Department of Transportation.
The Plug-in Car Grant scheme launched in December last year reduces the upfront costs of eligible vehicles by 25 percent or up to £5,000. The Leaf, which is on the list of eligible vehicles, would thus cost £23,350 through the scheme.
Nissan has since raised the price by around £2,000. With the £5,000 slash still in place, it now costs £25,990, according to car web sites thegreencarwebsite.com and carsuk.net.
Nissan is said to have increased the price due to the poor exchange rate between the pound and the Japanese yen since the Leaf’s original pricing.
Manufactured in Britain
While the initial models of the Leaf for sale in Britain will be built in Japan, Nissan said it has plans to build the Leaf at its British manufacturing facility in Sunderland in 2013.
Aside from the Leaf itself, the Sunderland facility will also manufacture the lithium-ion batteries the vehicle uses. The facility will have an annual production capacity of 50,000 vehicles and 60,000 units of lithium-ion batteries.
The Sunderland facility represents a total investment of more than £420 million and is expected to maintain about 2,250 jobs.
The investment in the Sunderland facility was boosted by a £20.7-million grant from the British government and a proposed finance package from the European Investment Bank of up to £220 million.
