Nissan Shelves Plans for Chinese Leaf

Although most carmakers are quickly turning their attention towards China, one of the largest auto markets in the world, Nissan is yet to make a decision on bringing its all-electric Leaf in the country. The reason is the lack of EV charging standards, although this might sound a little bit awkward given that General Motors will launch its Chevrolet Volt in China next year.

Nissan does intend to debut the Leaf in the country, but hasn't decided on the launch date. However, the Japanese brand has already announced a promoting campaign for 2011 during which it will allow people to test drive the Leaf and better understand the advantages it offers.

“At this moment, we don’t have any schedule because this is totally up to the setting of the infrastructure first. The biggest issue now is the charging stations and charging systems have not been yet been standardized,” Nissan's Chinese president Yasuaki Hashimoto told Reuters in an interview. “It’s inevitably important to have these standards, otherwise we cannot start the mass market.”

The Renault-Nissan alliance has already joined forced with the Wuhan government to set up 250 EV chargers and offer 25 electric cars for testing purposes in the state.

"Wuhan is working towards becoming an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly city. Introducing electric vehicles (EVs) in the city is an important part of the process to make this happen," Ruan Chengfa, mayor of Wuhan City, said in a release. "The agreement signed with Nissan is one significant step forward to realizing these goals."