December 11, 2010 was an important day for Nissan and for the electric vehicle marketplace. It was the day the first U.S. Nissan Leaf was delivered to a customer. It spearheaded a sales blitz that resulted in half a million sales globally.
“This milestone is so much bigger than Leaf. It demonstrates that we’ve established a rock-solid foundation for our EVs,” said Aditya Jairaj, Nissan’s director of U.S. electric vehicle marketing and sales strategy. “Across all facets of the company, Nissan is steeped in EV experience – and we’re now putting that collective knowledge to use as we look to the next phase of EVs with the launch of the all-new Nissan Ariya.”
An early adopter to the Leaf, Shannon Monroe, still has her original Leaf and has put more than 125,000 miles on the car. Considering the relatively low range of the original model with a full charge, that’s a lot of driving — and charging — over 10 years.
The U.S.-spec Leaf is produced in Smyrna, Tennessee, and in Japan and the U.K. for global markets.
Leaf’s success is part of the reason why many automakers today are looking at electrification, and why the Nissan Ariya is a big product for the company.
Happy anniversary, Nissan Leaf!
