Nissan Leaf to Hit Five U.S. Markets in 2010

The recently introduced Nissan Leaf EV will be available in five major U.S. markets as early as next year, but only in limited numbers.

The reasoning behind this is a bit complex, but as we reported, the Obama administration has invested $2.4 billion in electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. This includes $99.8 million awarded to eTec, a division of ECOtality that builds EV charging systems.

ETec plans to install 2,500 charging stations in Tennessee, Oregon, San Diego, Seattle and the Phoenix/Tucson area of Arizona. Nissan has agreed to support this effort by selling 1,000 new Leaf EVs in each of these markets.

This serves two purposes. First, Nissan surely hopes to build buzz for the Leaf from the 5,000 new owners who will be driving them; this is similar to recent efforts by Ford with its new Fiesta and Mini with its electric prototype. Second, the customers will have to agree to allow an on-board data logger to track driving habits. This information will be monitored by Nissan and the Department of Energy to figure out how best to introduce EV technology to other regions of the country.

Nissan to Begin Retail Sales of Leaf EV Next Year in Five Major U.S. Markets (Autoblog)