IDTechEx forecasts that nearly 2.2 million electric cars will be sold globally as early as 2012 if we include golf cars and hybrids. With help from UK government's £0.01 tax increase on fuel, Nissan is expecting to sell out of the first batch of Leaf electric vehicles that it will launch in the UK in March 2011. Over 25,000 customers in the US and Japan, including international cyclist Lance Armstrong in the UK, have already reserved a model of the electric vehicle, which Nissan unveils in the UK this week.
"Anytime you talk about technology - if it's a computer, or if it's a phone, or if it's a bicycle — you always talk about next level," said Armstrong.
"Next level is the stuff that just blows you away. The Leaf was just really, in my opinion, what I would call next level."
More than 100,000 on road electric vehicles are expected in the UK by 2015. The UK may become the biggest market in Europe for on-road electric vehicles with Leaf, the world's first purpose-built electric family car and made in the UK for all European deliveries, as a significant step towards the widespread adoption.
The car has just been showcased at the Innovation Station at London's O2, before it going on a regional tour of the UK early next year. The Leaf will go on sale in the UK next March at a price of £23,990, including a £5,000 government incentive for ultra-low emission vehicles. With a top speed of 90mph, the vehicle has a battery capacity of more than 90kW and running costs amount to just over £0.02 per mile, Nissan said.
Unlike most competing models, it can be charged on rapid charging mode in 30 minutes - hugely valued by prospective purchasers - and includes integrated Smartphone controls.
Paul Willcox, managing director of Nissan Motor GB, added, "Today's £0.01 hike in fuel tax is just the latest in a long line of reminders that the future of motoring cannot continue to be completely reliant on petrol and diesel."
For more see the reports Electric Vehicles 2010-2020 and
Also attend: Future of Electric Vehicles which uniquely covers the whole electric vehicle market - land, sea, air whether hybrid or pure EV - with emphasis on future breakthroughs. Speakers include Nissan, Fiat in the form of Research Center Fiat and the $37 billion BAE Systems that is involved in land, sea and airborne electric vehicles. The largest electrical company in Europe, Siemens, will also present.
