Isra-Mart srl:UK Leaf rollout unaffected by earthquake, says Nissan

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Isra-Mart srl news:

Nissan delivered its first Leaf electric car to a UK customer yesterday and denied the crisis in Japan would disrupt its planned nationwide rollout.

Keys to the first two cars in the UK were delivered to a customer in St Albans, Hertfordshire, and DJ Mark Goodier, a long-time supporter of electric cars.

UK customers have so far put in about 550 orders for Leafs, which retail at £25,990 once the government's £5,000 subsidy has been applied.

Nissan told BusinessGreen that the current waiting list stands at six months and it expects orders to increase rapidly over the year.

"Once people start to see them on the roads and realise that it does actually work and drives well, I think there will be a sudden surge [in orders]," a spokesman for the company said.

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan had raised questions over whether or not Nissan will be able to fulfil worldwide orders for the much-heralded Leaf, given that the only factory producing the electric cars is located in the country. Although the company's factories were not directly affected by the earthquake and tsunami, distribution networks across the country have been highly disrupted.

However, the Nissan spokesman insisted that enough cars were already present in the UK to fulfil orders in the short to medium term.

Nissan shipped 67 Leafs to the UK last month and a further 350 arrived this week, he added.

"That should keep us going for a while and the next batch is not due to be produced for a little while, so hopefully we'll be ok," he said. "We have not had any word that there will be a problem."