It’s finally begun! Nissan made its first of its UK deliveries of the hotly anticipated new Leaf today, with the first cars going to Smooth Radio DJ Mark Goodier and electronics engineer Richard Todd.
The two collected their electric cars from Glyn Hopkin Nissan in Waltham Abbey, Hertfordshire. The Leaf dubbed ‘the world’s first affordable, full production’ family, electric car has been available to order in the UK since September, with its first customers waiting until March 2011 for delivery.
Smooth Radio DJ Mark Goodier has been driving electric cars for the last decade. Receiving his new car, he said:“The great thing about electric cars is that the fuel distribution is already in place. We all have mains electricity at home. We have it at work and councils are already working on how to install thousands of charging points at the roadside. You can see why EVs make such sense, particularly in towns and cities.
“The LEAF is a proper full size family car with a 100 mile range – way more than most drivers do in a day. It’s everything that people like me who have been driving electric vehicles for a long time have been waiting for. It’s going to change our lives for the better,” he added.
Silicon chip designer Richard Todd from St Albans, Hertfordshire was the first customer in the UK to place his order for a Nissan LEAF when the order books opened last September. Today, he and his wife Jane took delivery of a black Nissan LEAF with the optional solar panel. Prior to picking up his Nissan LEAF, Todd did his 33 mile commute in a Toyota Prius.
“As an engineer I have always wanted an electric car – I’ve just had to wait for the battery technology to arrive. Hybrids are good but the driving experience of an all electric vehicle is way beyond this. Of course the lack of emissions in town is a big positive too,” he commented.
The Nissan LEAF, set to be built in Sunderland from 2013, is a fully electric, five seat hatchback with a top speed of 90 miles an hour and a range of around 100 miles on a single charge. Priced at £25,990 including a Government Plug-in Car Grant of £5,000, the Leaf is available to order now for UK delivery.
