After months of hype, Nissan Motor finally launched global sales of its Leaf electric vehicle, making its first retail delivery in the United States on Saturday.

Japanese sales start in Japan on 20 December and in Europe early next year.

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Olivier Chalouhi, 31, was the first customer to buy the car and attended a ceremony in San Francisco on Saturday riding in a black Leaf. He told Kyodo News that the Leaf is extremely quiet and like a vehicle of the future.

Chalouhi’s SL-specification car was supplied by North Bay Nissan of Petaluma. Nissan’s US website said Chalouhi is an entrepreneur and the founder and chief technology officer of Fanhattan, “a venture-backed stealth start-up in the connected TV space”. He previously commuted to work on an electric bicycle. 

The Leaf is priced from US$32,780 in the United States, and a government subsidy of $7,500 is applicable. In states such as California where the state government additionally provides a $5,000 subsidy, a customer can buy the car at just over $20,000.

Carlos Tavares, executive vice president of Nissan, said drivers have earned the freedom to part from their dependence on fossil fuels with the zero-emission Leaf.

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Nissan said it has already reached its first-phase sales target for the Leaf in the United States after having received 20,000 orders.

General Motors launches its hybrid electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt, later this month.

Tavares said, however, that the Volt would not be a rival to the Leaf because it is a hybrid car that uses both petrol and electricity.