Originally published on Planetsave.
The Venecia e30 — a Chinese rebadging of the very successful Nissan LEAF electric car — is set to hit the market a fair bit earlier than was previously expected, according to recent comments made at the Beijing Motor Show.
The highly anticipated EV is now expected to begin its rollout to the retail market sometime this September, according to its manufacturer, Dongfeng Nissan. So, a fair bit ahead of the previously reported release date of early/mid 2015.
The retail launch follows on the heels of a just completed pilot program in the cities of Guangzhou, Xiangyang and Dalian that saw “300 e30s recording a total mileage of one million km since … December 2013.”
Interestingly, it appears as though Dongfeng Nissan isn’t to be satisfied with simply rebadging the proven LEAF model, but is actually aiming to release a number of other ‘green’ cars in the coming years. Among these is the just-revealed fuel-efficient Venucia R30 — which it could be argued stole the show from the Venucia e30 at the Dongfeng Nissan booth this year. The R30’s appeal stems from its affordable pricing, fuel efficiency, and compact design — all qualities well-suited to the Chinese market. The compact possesses “segment-competitive fuel economy,” and a starting price of under RMB 50,000 (US$8,000).
“Very competitively priced, R30 is the perfect entry car for Chinese consumers,” stated Ren Yong, Deputy Managing Director of Dongfeng Nissan. “I believe many Chinese consumers will choose R30 as their first car in the continuing motorization of China.”
We’ll have to see how both of these cars stack up to the BYD Qin plug-in hybrid electric car, which is seeing excellent sales in China, and looks sure to lead electric car sales in China in 2014.
Image Credits: Nissan LEAF in China via GuoZhongHua / Shutterstock.com; R30 via Nissan
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