Nissan Leaf 2013 sales are booming with new markets. Nissan is conquering the Midwest and South.
Forget last year’s Leaf problems, Nissan is off to a good start this year with its revised all-electric 2013 Leaf. You might recall a certain heat issue some Leaf owners discovered in Phoenix, Arizona last year when their battery pack capacity shrinking. Without going into too much detail, Nissan hadn’t designed the Leafs with a serious active thermal management system, which would have helped it better cope with extreme weather.
2013, a New Chapter, a New Leaf. Eager to put this debacle behind, Nissan is eager to show us how well the Leaf is selling. It is not only selling well in the coastal areas, where predominantly electric vehicles do well but also in the Midwest and south according to the company’s press release.
The Leaf is the best selling Nissan model in Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle, areas well known for their love of alternative energy vehicles. A few numbers and demographics will point to the obvious. These cities have a strong fast charging station network, and local traffic commutes are short. All of these make these make electric cars perfect. But what about the rest of the country?
Leaf Nationwide Sales Boom. Overall, Nissan is experiencing a Leaf sales boom, and especially what it calls a “New Wave” of markets across the country. According to Erik Gottfried, Nissan director of EV Sales and Marketing: “LEAF always has sold well on the West Coast for a number of reasons—state tax incentives that stack on top of federal, High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) and High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) access, environmental mindedness, a concentration of early adopters and an EV culture and enthusiasm that dates back to some of the earliest EV experiments before Nissan took them mass-market. In fact, for several months LEAF has been the No. 1 seller in the Nissan portfolio in Seattle, Portland and San Francisco.”
San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Seattle and Portland take the first five spots. Honolulu comes in at sixth place for obvious reasons, gasoline is imported and very expensive. With the island’s abundant sunshine, solar panels are popping up, making electric cars a natural for Hawaii. San Diego and Sacramento come in seven and eight, respectively, closing the Californian sales area. However, the South traditionally associated with mainstream Detroit cars is warming up to electric cars.
The South Gets Electrified. Nashville is giving the Nissan Leaf a warm welcome, which comes in at ninth place. One obvious reason could be that the Leaf is manufactured nearby at the Smyrna factory. However, Nissan’s reason is the strong charging network. St Louis comes in next at the 10th spot. Interestingly here, Nissan says its outreach to dealerships is the reason St Louis fares so well.
Chicago and Denver are dueling for 11th spot, while strangely Washington D.C. is only at 12th. We expect more from the center of the political scene in the US, since last year, Washington D.C. was pushing its elected officials to plug in at work.
Dallas and New York City are 14 and 15, respectively. Don’t scoff, but Dallas is one of the top three EV friendly cities in the US, mostly due to its charging station network. Why is New York City in 15 position? NYC is extremely dense, population wise but the use of cars isn’t very conducive. Most people living outside the city and commute by train or subway. However, Westchester and Long Island show growth in charging stations. This could eventually mean, electric cars will penetrate NYC in greater number in the future.
This press release from Nissan shows two things. Nissan wants to put behind last year’s overheating issues and show it has done much work raising awareness in the middle of the country with electric cars. Traditionally the Midwest and South have been strongholdS for Detroit gasoline cars, so the numbers there are impressive. Overall, these numbers are good news for one of the first electric cars available In our soil. Congratulations Nissan on taking such a bold step forward with your all-electric Leaf and its respectful sales number.
