Nissan Leaf Electric Car Wins 2010 Green Car Vision Award

The Nissan Leaf battery electric car has been named Green Car Journal’s 2010 Green Car Vision Award™ winner at the Washington Auto Show. The innovative Leaf is scheduled to go on sale later this year.

Along with the Leaf, this year’s Green Car Vision Award™ nominees include the Coda electric sedan, Ford Focus BEV electric car, Mercedes-Benz F-Cell hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, and Toyota Prius PHV plug-in hybrid. Each of these nominees, in its own way, presents a strong vision for the future of the automobile.

Nissan’s move to offer a stylish battery electric vehicle as part of its model line is significant. This coming electric model will provide the features, the styling, and the driving experience that will meet the needs of a sophisticated and demanding market, while producing zero localized emissions and requiring no petroleum fuels.

Especially important is this all-new electric car’s approachable price. Nissan will achieve this by leasing the Leaf's advanced lithium-ion batteries to the consumer as part of the vehicle transaction. The automaker says this will result in combined monthly payments and operating costs estimated to be about the same as the cost of a comparable internal combustion model and the gas to run it. While polls show that some consumers will pay more for environmentally positive vehicles, vehicle transactions at new car showrooms are extremely competitive. Thus, price parity is crucial to the long-term success of any mass market advanced technology model, including electric cars.

To be considered for the Green Car Vision Award™, vehicles must be in their early stages of commercialization but not yet on sale, in small volume production with more than one functional prototype in existence, or operating as part of a demonstration fleet. A nominee may be an all-new model or an advanced adaptation of an existing model, such as a conversion to another type of power like electric drive.

Previous winners of the Green Car Vision Award™ include the Chevrolet Volt and the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell.