Nissan LEAF Hitting South Africa In October — Will Be First EV On Sale In The Country
The Nissan LEAF will finally be hitting the South African market in October — making it the first electric car for sale in South Africa. Kind of funny when you think about it, given that South Africa is Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s home country. 🙂
The LEAF is expected to debut at the Johannesburg International Motor Show, and will go on sale at the same time. Mike Whitfield, the Managing Director of Nissan South Africa, states: “The launch of the Nissan LEAF in South Africa will be a ground-breaking event this year as it brings about the dawn of a new era of motoring. Nissan is the first brand to explore EV retail in South Africa and we are extremely proud to be able to say ‘we were first’.”
The LEAF has already been in South Africa thanks to a pilot program with Eskom, the national electricity provider, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA). The LEAF is Nissan’s all electric mass production electric car. It first went on sale in December 2010, and Nissan has since sold over 75,000 of them world-wide. Nissan South Africa serves not just that country, but is a regional hub with operations in 42 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“After initially announcing that the Nissan LEAF would grace South African roads at the 2011 Johannesburg International Motor Show, we are now even more excited to be able to bring full EV mobility to the South African public with a holistic approach,” Whitfield states. “This award-winning car will set a new tone for personal mobility in the country and we are honoured that Nissan is the first name on the list of EV manufacturers in South Africa.”
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