Renault-Nissan sells its 100,000th electric car
23 July 2013
The Renault-Nissan Alliance has sold its 100,000th electric car globally. Renault-Nissan has sold more zero-emission cars than all other major automakers combined, the automakers noted.
More than 71,000 people worldwide have bought Nissan LEAF, which made its debut in 2010; LEAF makes up more than half of all global sales of pure electric cars. More than 80% of LEAF buyers globally exchange cars from other automakers, making the LEAF one of the industry’s most innovative “conquest vehicles.” The majority of customers say the LEAF, which consumes no petroleum whatsoever, has replaced their conventional car for daily use.
The top markets for Nissan LEAF are the United States with about 30,000 units, Japan with 28,000 units, and Europe with 12,000 units. In the United States, the LEAF is among the top 10 vehicles sold in San Francisco, Seattle and Honolulu.
In Norway, the LEAF is one of the top 10 vehicles sold. The car is Nissan’s best-selling model in Norway, where more than 4,600 people have bought LEAFs since 2011. EVs in Norway are exempt from value added tax (VAT) and road tolls, and they have access to bus lanes and free parking.
Renault has sold about 30,000 electric vehicles since its first model, Kangoo Z.E., went on sale in late 2011. Renault leads the electric vehicle market in Europe with a 61% share. Renault’s top markets in Europe are France, Germany and Italy.
In addition to the Kangoo Z.E., Renault also offers Fluence Z.E. sedan; the two-seat commuter vehicle Twizy; and the subcompact ZOE, launched earlier this year.
Twizy is Renault’s best-selling model with about 11,000 units sold since it went on sale in early 2012. Renault began selling the ZOE in March throughout Europe and has sold about 5,000 units.
Electric cars from Renault and Nissan have driven approximately 841 million kilometers (523 million miles)—enough to circle the earth more than 20,000 times.
100,000th N-R EV - that's 5 zeros. Average unit price: $35,000 that's three zeros. 35 w/ eight zeros: $3,500,000,000 = 3.5 billion dollars.
That's a lot of cheddar.
Soon, all EV models may be sold in more than one or two states.
Posted by: kelly | 23 July 2013 at 07:14 AM
'Renault began selling the ZOE in March throughout Europe and has sold about 5,000 units.'
That is the date they started the rollout.
They are still not available or only just starting sales in many European companies.
Posted by: Davemart | 23 July 2013 at 07:42 AM
EVs make great 2nd and city cars.
100,000 is nothing to sneeze at, but I still think they need to have some kind of car swap system for people who don't have a second car and need the odd long run.
If you get all the paperwork pre-baked, so that all you have to do is to reserve a car and either go and get it, or have it dropped to your house, it could work well.
If you could get a rental ICE for (say) e20 / day all in, it would work well - a weekend would cost e40, a fortnight would cost e280 (say e250).
That is a small addition to the cost of a car.
Perhaps you could get them rent your car (if you gave it up for a week+), perhaps not.
It strikes me as a much simpler (and quicker) (administrative) solution to EV range than building a load of charger stations, or adding a larger battery that will only be needed 4% of the time.
It is a "two car" PHEV for the cost of a BEV and a little paperwork.
Posted by: mahonj | 23 July 2013 at 08:03 AM
@mahonj
Or we could have a "car & a half" PHEV. Make sure every EV comes with a trailerhitch. For long trips you rent a trailer for extra cargo space - and a generator for extra "car go" range.
Posted by: ai_vin | 23 July 2013 at 08:31 AM
@mahonj:
In Europe not only are there a variety of schemes which include occasional ICE leases, but SNCF provides free or cheap rail travel for your car on some routes, such as Paris-Nice, so you save the hassle of driving to your holiday destination.
Posted by: Davemart | 23 July 2013 at 09:14 AM
If we don't get affordable 200 mile batteries before long I think a small genset on a trailer could be a great solution for long trips.
Give it a single wheel and a two point hitch. Make the wheel self-steering, controlled by steering wheel motion. Give them rear view cameras and warning systems. They'd hardly change the way an EV drives and backs.
Reserve one. Pick it up along the highway, anywhere within your battery range. Drop it off toward the end of your trip.
And, yes, they might be hydrogen fuel cells.... ;o)
Posted by: Bob Wallace | 23 July 2013 at 09:48 AM
@mahonj
EVs are already more than second / city cars. Once you get an EV it becomes the prime car as you want to maximise the cost benefits by avoiding buying petrol / diesel at every opportunity. The second car is the one you use when the distance to travel is too great AND there are no rapid chargers on route. For us that is not very often and we do not live in a city either.
Posted by: Thomas Lankester | 23 July 2013 at 10:41 AM
I'm one of those customers!
I have my Zoe since a week now. My blog where I hope to be telling more about her.
Posted by: Arne | 23 July 2013 at 12:10 PM
@Arne:
Congrats!
I hope you are very happy together! :-)
Posted by: Davemart | 23 July 2013 at 12:23 PM
@Arne
Way to go!
Posted by: ai_vin | 23 July 2013 at 12:28 PM
Lithium ion batteries blamed for Dubai UPS Jet crash.
http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2013/07/probe-links-lithium-battery-to-dubai-ups-crash?et_cid=3385476&et_rid=210311646&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.manufacturing.net%2fnews%2f2013%2f07%2fprobe-links-lithium-battery-to-dubai-ups-crash
Happy motoring!
Posted by: Mannstein | 24 July 2013 at 12:49 PM
@ Bob Wallace --
I agree that genset trailers are an attractive option, but with a two-point hitch you're more or less rigidly hanging a big mass (100+ kg?) way behind the rear axle... at least in the yaw axis. I think you'll require active steering, and sometimes counter-steering, of the single wheel in order to avoid imitating the chassis dynamics of an early Porsche 911.
Posted by: EddyKilowatt | 24 July 2013 at 03:10 PM
Are 'on-board' lithium batteries taking the blame for inadequate aircraft wiring and load protection?
Posted by: HarveyD | 24 July 2013 at 03:11 PM
mahonj,
Am I missing some key point?
The system that you describe already exists. One phone call or web request reserves a car, the paperwork is minimal (credit card, driving license and signature), and the cost is around 20 Euros/$25 per day for a basic car.
Posted by: Bernard | 26 July 2013 at 05:58 AM
Eddy - that's what I had in mind.
"Make the wheel self-steering, controlled by steering wheel motion."
Posted by: Bob Wallace | 26 July 2013 at 09:00 PM
Boeing is now trying hard to put the blame of the Emergency TX facilities for their own bad wiring and protection devices, just as they did with the on-board lithium batteries manufacturer.
By not accepting their own short comings and failures, Boeing is damaging other technologies, including first class lithium batteries and future EVs.
Posted by: HarveyD | 29 July 2013 at 02:18 PM