San Francisco to be first US home for the Nissan LEAF

Written by Bryan Johannsen

If you are in the Bay area you can be among the first to drive Nissan's LEAF electric car. Nissan spokeswoman Katherine Zachary says the LEAF will be on sale in San Fransisco in December 2010. She also states the price will be comparable to a mid-size family sedan and the final retail price will be announced next spring.

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom announced from city hall that the Bay area government, in a partnership with Nissan, would work to establish charging stations around the city. "We have very ambitious goals regionally of a 150,000 charge points," Newsom said.

The city also plans to steamline the approval process for homeowners who want to install a fast charger in their garage. If you're planning on buying the LEAF you'll want one of these as it would take 24 hours to charge the LEAF on a regular 110v outlet.

Fast chargers are high voltage units and need to be connected to the high power lines coming into your house by a professional. Most states also require an inspetion by a state inspector before the unit can be turned on and used. Bay area officials are vowing to make this process as painless as possible to encourage EV use in their city.

See our Nissan LEAF page for more information about this electric car.

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