Nissan have just hit the 400,000 mark in cumulative sales of their Leaf full-electric EV.
Released in late 2010, it was a ground-breaking model for an existing auto manufacturer, even beating Tesla’s Model S as the first mass-production, ground-up design BEV (battery electric vehicle).
Since its introduction, the Leaf has been the biggest selling EV in the USA and Japan, and in 2018 returned to being the top selling EV in Europe. (It had been running closely behind the Renault Zoe BEV since 2015).
When introduced, the Leaf was seen as an innovative design – but Nissan have struggled somewhat over the years to keep up with newer entrants who have innovated faster than Nissan.
These include the Renault Zoe (introduced 2013 with a 22kWh battery and moving to 41kWh in 2016 – around the time the Leaf moved to 30kWh), the two Hyundai BEV models (Ioniq electric in 2016 and Kona electric in 2018), Kia e-Niro (2018), and now the Tesla Model 3. (Let alone the innovations shown by the luxury BEVs such as the Tesla models S and X, Jaguar I-Pace, BMW i3 and Audi e-tron).
It will be therefore interesting to see if Nissan manage to keep the mantle of ‘highest ever selling production BEV model’ for much longer.
Read the full story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle-dedicated site, The Driven…
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