3,754 Leafs Pre-Ordered in 3 Weeks...

... or a little over 1,500 a week. The Leaf electric gamble is off to a terribly good start and can only please Nissan, whose efforts in the past two years have been concentrated on creating, building and easing the way for the implementation of the world's first mass-produced electric vehicle.

According to Nissan, the 3,754 pre-orders received in Japan are mainly from individual customers (64 percent). A somewhat worrying fact, however, is that most of the people who want a Leaf are aged above 40 (24% above 40, 26/% above 50 and 35% above 60 years). Only 2 percent of the ones who ordered a Leaf are aged 20...

Still, the fact remains the Leaf will be a hit. Even if Japan is not exactly a good point of reference about how the Leaf might perform abroad (remember, the Japanese market is much keener on EVs and hybrids than other regions of the world), its success here is a good sign the car has what it takes.

There's no word yet from Nissan on how the Leaf performs in the US, where reservations began on April 20. Here, the MSRP for the 2011 Nissan LEAF is $32,780, while the lease price begins at $349 per month. Including the $7,500 federal tax credit for which the Nissan LEAF will be fully eligible, the consumer's after-tax net value of the vehicle will be $25,280.

"The Renault-Nissan Alliance aims to be a global leader in zero-emission mobility. To-date the Alliance has signed zero-emission partnerships with more than 50 governments, municipalities and companies worldwide. Nissan will introduce the LEAF electric car in Japan, the United States and Europe in December, 2010 followed by global mass marketing in 2012," Nissan says in a release.