Nissan’s new all-electric Leaf is all set for a February launch in Australia, but don’t think you can just wander up to the counter and drop $51,500 on the new EV. Instead, Nissan are going to screen all potential buyers to determine their compatibility, and may turn away buyers if they don’t qualify.
According to Chris Harris over at Fairfax, Nissan will assess “whether the electric vehicle will meet buyers’ needs based on their home charging set-up and whether their daily commute is within the Leaf’s 140-kilometre operating range between recharges.”
I understand the logic behind the decision – the last thing you want is people bitching on Twitter because the EV they bought ran out of charge half way home, leaving them stranded in the rain. Given the lack of EV charging infrastructure here in Australia, that’s almost definitely going to happen more than once.
But turning away potential customers in this economy? Man, that just seems wrong…
[Drive]