Nissan LEAF will flirt with Canada first in 2011

Nissan’s Leading Environmentally friendly Affordable Family (LEAF) car will launch in Canada first as part of a joint marketing effort supported by the company and local government. The Nissan LEAF promises 100 miles of travel on single charge of its battery. But why target Canada with an early release with a wider launch in 2012?

One reason may lie with the country’s interest and support of electric car infrastructure. Vancouver is openly competing to become the greenest city in the world by 2020 and part of that plan includes cleaning up emissions from vehicles. The Renault-Nissan Alliance, the province, the city of Vancouver and B.C. Hydro are all working together on talks for making charging stations a common site in Canada.

That’s a significant challenge for the Nissan LEAF, or any other electric-only vehicle because drivers often experience range anxiety with a vehicle that can only travel 100 miles at a time. If charging stations were readily accessible in frequently traveled areas then there would be less fear of running out of fuel.

Nissan knows that and is consequently committed to finding an infrastructure solution that will likely mimic current gas stations in many ways. The LEAF will pull a full charge from a home electrical outlet in 8 hours, but with a higher voltage output it could charge up to 80% in less than 30 minutes. That’s a pretty quick charge, but compared to 5 minutes at the gasoline pump it still won’t appeal to some. Ideally it won’t be necessary to stop at a recharge station if the driver recharges overnight – the only exception would be during longer trips.

The coalition has a hefty goal and Nissan is hoping to cash in on some positive publicity early on by launching the LEAF in an environment very eager to support its technology,” according to The Canadian Press.

That’s a great start!