Nissan Expects 20,000 Pre-Orders of the Electric Leaf

Autonews is reporting Nissan expects 20,000 pre-orders for the Nissan Leaf when it goes on sale next spring.

“We are confident we will have 20,000 reservations for the Leaf by the time it goes on sale,” Carlos Tavares, Nissan’s chairman for the Americas, said today.

Autonews was there at a breakfast meeting in Nashville. Nissan sales and marketing headquarters are located just outside of Nashville, Tenn. The Leaf will also be built in Smyrna, Tennessee. Nissan has the production facilities there to build 150,000 units a year, along with 200,000 lithium-ion batteries sometime in 2012. At first, the Leaf will be imported.

Nissan expects Tenn to be a key market, with the state building a recharging grid that links Nashville, Chattanooga and Knoxville, Tenn.  Sales will be limited to those cities and regions that have signed agreements with Nissan to pursue installation of EV charging networks.

The meeting was part marketing, as Tavares was encouraging the audience to consider buying fleets of Leafs for their business and to build their own recharging systems.