First customer cars delivered in United Kingdom
While paying attention to other things, we totally missed the news that the first LEAF delivery in the United Kingdom took place on Monday.
In fact, a pair of LEAFs were received by their new owners. Accompanied by the by now familiar press event, the news moved the electric car movement forward in the UK. Britain has had a moderate interest in electric cars for many years with the small Indian made Reva having a following there (marketed as the G-Wiz). While the electric vehicle (EV) market in Britain is not expected to be as large as that in the United States, there is demand expected throughout the region. Enough so that Nissan plans on building the LEAF at the Nissan Sunderland plant in the UK, starting in 2013. Ultimate capacity for the plant is projected to be 50,000 LEAFs annually. This will be the third leg of Nissan’s three pronged approach to building the EV globally, and will bring global capacity to 250,000 units once in full production mode (50,000 from Oppama, Japan, 150,000 from Smyrna, Tennessee, 50,000 from Sunderland).