After its best sales month to date in March and a 423.5% year on year increase in April, Nissan’s Leaf EV has passed the 25,000 sales mark in the US.
“From the beginning our goal with Leaf has been to bring affordable, zero-emission transportation to the mass market in a practical, fun-to-drive package,” said Erik Gottfried, Nissan director of electric vehicle (EV) marketing and sales strategy. “With more than 25,000 Leafs in the US and 62,000 around the world, we’re seeing the adoption curve for EVs accelerate, and there is tremendous interest not only on the west coast but in a number of new strongholds like Atlanta, Raleigh, Denver, Dallas, Chicago, St. Louis and many more.”
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The automaker began assembling the car locally in Smyrna, Tennessee last Janaury.
Nissan said sales “have risen steadily since the vehicle’s launch and have grown tremendously compared to the previous year with sales jumping several-fold in traditionally high-performing markets such as San Francisco – where it was the top-selling vehicle for the brand in April – Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland and San Diego.
“We’ve had the opportunity to evaluate the purchase process of EV buyers. We have maintained an ongoing dialogue with our customers, and through that we’ve learned just how different the process is for buying a Leaf versus a traditional gas-powered car,” said Gottfried. “We’ve found that customers interested in Leaf come to the showroom exceptionally well educated about the product. Then post-purchase, they stay engaged with us, connect with the owner community and share their experience broadly, which drives greater interest.”
“We’ve also learned how infrastructure plays a role in a consumer’s decision to go all-electric,” added Brendan Jones, Nissan’s director of EV infrastructure strategy and deployment. “We already knew that areas with a higher concentration of EVs would require more charging stations, but trends show that the reverse is also true – a more robust charging infrastructure generates greater interest in EVs and stimulates more EV driving among EV owners.”
Nissan said earlier this year it would triple the number of US quick chargers from 200 to 600 and about 50 additional units have already been installed where interest in EVs is highest.
“Nissan is taking a three-prong approach to bolster infrastructure by working with commercial charging partners to bring a variety of charging options to our customers, collaborating with businesses to encourage workplace charging on their campuses and engaging in pilots with our dealers to determine how to optimise the role they can play in EV infrastructure,” said Jones.
“This enhanced infrastructure – particularly with more businesses offering workplace charging as an employee benefit – builds range confidence and gives EV drivers better end to end charging ability, meaning they can leave home fully charged, plug in at work and be charged when they leave.”
