Photo: Nissan
Being one of the few carmakers to have a globally available, affordable electric vehicle in the lineup, Nissan is trying to expand the reach of the Leaf even more, to both markets where it already sells and to places it still doesn’t.
Taking advantage of the last week’s Nissan Futures Latin America event in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Japanese released the results of a study they commissioned for Latin America. And, as the numbers appear to show, electric is the way to go there.
The study, conducted by think tank Fundación IDEA on 5,769 people in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru, showed that 8 out of ten participants are willing to buy an electric vehicle. Why don’t they do it, then?
Well, first there’s the charging problem: 75 percent of them feel locating a charging point could be complicated. Then you have range: 60 percent are concerned that the range of electric vehicles won't cover their daily travel. And last, but not least, charging time: 63 percent are concerned that the time it takes to charge the vehicle might be too long.
Naturally, Nissan didn’t conduct this study for no reason. At the same event, taking into account the fact that 80 percent of South Americans favor to some degree electric vehicles, the carmaker announced that during the next fiscal year the Leaf EV would be available on the continent as well.
The first countries to benefit from it are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Uruguay and Puerto Rico. There was no announcement made regarding prices for the model on the local markets.
Currently, in its second generation, the Nissan Leaf was first unveiled in 2010. The 2017 version can go further on a single charge and has more power and torque than before: an estimated range of 378 km (235 miles) and total power output of 150 hp.
The study, conducted by think tank Fundación IDEA on 5,769 people in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru, showed that 8 out of ten participants are willing to buy an electric vehicle. Why don’t they do it, then?
Well, first there’s the charging problem: 75 percent of them feel locating a charging point could be complicated. Then you have range: 60 percent are concerned that the range of electric vehicles won't cover their daily travel. And last, but not least, charging time: 63 percent are concerned that the time it takes to charge the vehicle might be too long.
Naturally, Nissan didn’t conduct this study for no reason. At the same event, taking into account the fact that 80 percent of South Americans favor to some degree electric vehicles, the carmaker announced that during the next fiscal year the Leaf EV would be available on the continent as well.
The first countries to benefit from it are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Uruguay and Puerto Rico. There was no announcement made regarding prices for the model on the local markets.
Currently, in its second generation, the Nissan Leaf was first unveiled in 2010. The 2017 version can go further on a single charge and has more power and torque than before: an estimated range of 378 km (235 miles) and total power output of 150 hp.
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