The Nissan Leaf is perhaps the first electric vehicle designed from the ground up to be produced and sold in large volumes worldwide. The Leaf is a five-passenger vehicle with every expected amenity expected in a modern automobile like power windows, power locks, stability control, navigation system, etc. Leaf is offered in two trim levels: SV and SL. According to the EPA, the Leaf can travel about 73 miles on a full charge. The battery is fully rechargeable in 7 hours at 240V, but an optional DC quick charger port (SL models) allows the Leaf to be 80% charged in 30 minutes. They have assigned the Leaf MPGequivalent numbers of 106 city and 92 highway. The EPA considers 33.7kW-hrs electricity to be equivalent to 1 gallon of gas. The Leaf is currently available in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and Tennessee. Nissan will offer the Leaf in more states in 2011.

What Changed:

The Leaf is an all-new electric vehicle built by Nissan. The powertrain consists of 80kw AC electric motor. A 192 cell 24kWh lithium-ion battery is used for energy storage. Nissan will offer the Leaf in limited markets worldwide, steadily increasing the availability over time.