The Nissan Leaf has already attracted over 500 orders from UK customers, according to newspaper The Northern Echo.
The regional newspaper which covers areas North East of England is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Nissan Leaf which is set to be built in Sunderland from 2013, with the first deliveries to UK customers due soon.
A spokesman for Nissan told the paper: “We have taken about 500 UK orders for the Nissan Leaf since September and the first of these are due to be delivered in March.
“These orders are from customers who are very early adopters of this new technology, most of whom have not yet seen a Nissan Leaf, let alone driven one.
“Once people start to see the car on the roads and in dealerships, we expect orders to rise considerably, and we are aiming to secure a higher allocation for the UK market as 2011 progresses.”
Most of the orders are believed to be from private customers who can use the recently launched Plug-in Car Grants to reduce the retail price of the Leaf by £5,000. Fleets too, are beginning to show interest in the car, with a number of orders coming through from businesses.
Nissan has already received around 26,000 orders for the vehicle in the US and Japan, where deliveries began in December.
The Leaf, which has already won 2011 European Car of the Year, was announced as the winner of the Ultra Low Carbon Award in the What Car? Car of the Year Awards last night.
