San Francisco comes in on top
With the recent sale of the 100,000th Renault-Nissan Alliance electric vehicle (EV), Nissan decided to publish the top ten US cities for LEAF. As seen in the above infographic, they are:
- San Francisco
- Los Angeles
- Atlanta
- Seattle
- Portland, Oregon
- Honolulu
- San Diego
- Nashville
- Sacramento, California
- St. Louis, Missouri
Not surprisingly, six of the ten are West Coast markets, with a seventh being on the island of Hawaii. These were all part of Nissan’s original seven state rollout back in the beginning of time, so it is expected that LEAF sales should be doing well in these markets. Tennessee was also one of those original markets as Nissan moved their headquarters there from Southern California many years ago. What we find interesting is that neither Georgia nor Missouri were part of the second- or even third-wave rollout for the LEAF.
Atlanta has moved to the number three spot nationwide, not the least reason of which is the inclusion of a $5,000 Georgia state incentive on top of the $7,500 Federal tax credit. If Nissan’s $199 lease deal isn’t attractive enough for you, how about throwing another $5,000 at you. When you consider that $199 times 36 is $7,164 plus the $1,999 down (total $9,163), the LEAF ends up costing roughly $115 per month, plus electricity to charge it. Why wouldn’t you want to drive a LEAF if it fit your needs? Many drivers pay more than that just in gasoline costs.
Missouri does not offer any state incentives for EV purchase, so there is some other factor at play there. Whatever the reason, go out and talk to your neighbors, co-workers, and family members and tell them what a good time you are having driving your LEAF!