Nissan's Leaf is a zero-emission, 100-percent electric vehicle, and it actually looks fairly attractive. But even more intriguing than its frame is its time-frame: The Leaf will be available for purchase next year.Nick Chambers of Gas2.0 offers a rather glowing preview of the Leaf, which can travel 100 miles on a single charge, reach speeds of 90 miles per hour, and carry up to five people-though he's eager for a test-drive. The Leaf can reach 80 percent battery capacity with 30 minutes of charging on a 50-kilowatt DC charger (or 100 percent when plugged in to a standard 200 volt AC outlet for eight hours). I'm still looking for confirmation on price-but Business Week says it costs about $10,000 to make, and that Nissan plans to (wisely) lease the batteries to customers rather than having them buy them outright, which could keep costs on par with the company's standard (sub-$20,000) coupes and sedans.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAxEiecu040&feature=player_embeddedCoupled with the Obama Administration's announcement of $2.4 billion in grants for batteries and electric cars is on the way, this is a pretty red letter day for electric vehicles.
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