The first all electric Nissan LEAFs have been delivered to UK customers today.
The first two examples of the LEAF to be delivered to UK customers were handed over to their new owners at Waltham Abbey-based dealership Glyn Hopkins Nissan. The LEAF is currently manufactured in Japan and shipped to the UK, but from 2013 will begin production at Nissan's Sunderland plant.
Silicon chip designer Richard Todd of St. Albans was the first UK customer to place an order for the LEAF when Nissan opened the books last September. He took delivery of his black Nissan LEAF with optional solar panel, which will replace his Toyota Prius on his 33-mile daily commute. "As an engineer I have always wanted an electric car - I've just had to wait for the battery technology to arrive." said Mr Todd, "Hybrids are good but the driving experience of an all electric vehicle is way beyond this. Of course the lack of emissions in town is a big positive too."
Also collecting his new LEAF from the same dealership was former Radio 1 DJ Mark Goodier - a long time electric car owner - who commented, "The great thing about electric cars is that the fuel distribution is already in place. We all have mains electricity at home, at work, and councils are already working on how to install thousands of charging points at the roadside. The LEAF is a proper full size family car with a 100 mile range - way more than most drivers do in a day."
Nationwide deliveries of the LEAF will continue to increase over the next few days, taking in the other 25 electric vehicle dealerships in the Nissan network. Nissan have previously announced plans for a charging network across its dealerships, including a quick charger that will charge the LEAF's battery from zero to 80% in less than half an hour, with the ultimate goal of having about 9,000 charging points in the UK by 2013.
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